My life, my Dove
by Airanke
Summary: DISCONTINUED.
1. Chapter 1

Okay. Easy things first. This is a Hidan past fiction. **This is not accurate in any way to the past information that was released about Hidan in the databook. **I came up with this idea before I read that (and honestly, Hidan really has no past at all, ha ha) I just didn't post it till now. Or write it till now. Why? Because I had to come up with _tons_ of characters for this thing. A heads up: there are **24** original Naruto characters in this story. Yeah. Twenty-four. There are probably others, but there are twenty-four important and semi-important ones.

This chapter is almost completely flashbacks that Hidan is having while in his little grave. And now that I've told you that, I best tell you this: **Warning: There are some slightly graphic descriptions about flying guts and happy intestines. If you are the squeemish type, or have difficulty reading semi-graphic descriptions about guts and violence, I strongly advise you not to read the parts in italics. If you skip those parts, however, you may not understand important aspects of this story, as mostly everything in this chapter _will not be repeated._ Also mentions of rape, though nothing descriptive (I'd rather die before describing that, anyway).  
**

Whew. Warning out of the way, here's the disclaimer: I only own the idea of this story (My life, my Dove; MLMD) and any character's whose names/personalities you don't recognize. I will try to make this obvious later. Naruto and its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

And the legend!!

_Italics _= flashback/dream

Non-italics = present time

_'I think I'm thinking this'_ = thoughts in present time

_"These words are words that will last forever" _= speaking in flashback/dream.

I didn't use any thoughts in the flashbacks/dreams to avoid confusion. Don't worry though, this will all hopefully make sense in later chapters. I shall repeat my warning: **There are some slightly graphic descriptions about flying guts and happy intestines. If you are the squeemish type, or have difficulty reading semi-graphic descriptions about guts and violence, I strongly advise you not to read the parts in italics. If you skip those parts, however, you may not understand important aspects of this story, as mostly everything in this chapter _will not be repeated._ Also mentions of rape, though nothing descriptive (I'd rather die before describing that, anyway).**

Ready now? Alright. Go ahead and read (though I think my own story is going to give me nightmares. Must... write.. chapter 2!) Sorry if this is a little confusing at first. PM me or mention in your review about something that confuses you. I do switch to Shikamaru at the end of this chapter, so you know what's going on with him (MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!)

* * *

**Chapter 1: To Hell.**

Pitch.

Black.

Silence.

Nothingness.

Then a spot of color. Then many spots. They started to take shape, to mold into the form of bodies, male and female, young and old. A couple stood out vividly against the white background, a young mother with long black hair, a bundle held gingerly in her arms. Her eyes slanted down at the ends, droopy and brilliantly colored, like a quartz. Her gaze was fixed adoringly upon the bundle in her arms and the man next to her raised a large hand to rest it on the top of the bundle.

The man's hair was short and shaggy, a dark gray in color, though it shimmered, like the stars. His eyes were large and sapphire blue, one darker than the other. He wore black robes, a huge triple-bladed scythe on his back, red and white in color. His hitai-ate was misty looking; the symbol was unclear, but it hung around his neck.

Abruptly the view changed, looking down at the bundle; there was a serene face showing.

Violet eyes opened widely simultaneously.

The picture faded and was replaced by black. A hand moved stiffly, trapped for too long under rocks. It clenched, fingers wrapping around a rock.

A bitter cry was released from dry, cracked lips, the voice hoarse and strained. The man – whom the voice belong to – tried to turn, to move but he fell into unconsciousness from the sheer amount of pain that shot through his body.

_'Cold, cold, very cold, why am I so damn cold?'_

His mind was spinning out of control, scenes coming and going. A boy with pale skin and silver hair stumbling into the arms of his mother learning how to walk. Another second another memory, the first words ever leaving those young lips; one years old.

Two years, three, four, five and finally six. Six. He remembered that age like it was just yesterday when he was six. Whenever yesterday had been.

_They were hiding in a closet, with only a bit of light escaping through the cracks in the doors. His father cursed quietly, sapphire eyes jumping to look at the scythe that was leaning against the wall, close to the door. There was no point in his father getting it now; the little boy knew that from the glint of regret in his father's eyes. He released a small whimper, clinging to his mother more tightly._

"_Sh, baby, if – if they find us I won't let them do _anything_ to you, I promise," his mother's voice was shaky. The boy knew that something bad was going to happen, that they would be found and that something terrible was going to happen. He groped for his father's pant leg and finding it, clung to it with all his might._

_The screams were getting louder, gurgling noises could be heard. There was the disgusting sound of blood spurting out of bodies, splattering on walls, and the sickening thuds of bodies – and probably body parts – hitting the floors._

_Someone released a snort, and a voice said, "check inside that closet. The violet eyed kid wasn't with any of these people."_

"_Should have left; should have fled, damn it!" the father cursed in a whisper. The door was flung open, bathing the family inside with yellow light. The boy's eyes widened unnaturally at the sight of bodies that had been twisted into grotesque shapes. He saw a head on the floor, eyes wide open and seemingly staring right at him. He bit back a cry of fear._

_The men that had slaughtered his clan took some steps forward. One, who seemed particularly disgusted with the whole thing announced, "I'm sickened by all this. I'm leaving."_

"_Bah, be a coward then! This is the kid. Think of how rich we'll be when he's dead."_

_There was an odd glint in those bright purple eyes, "that is, if you can even successfully kill him."_

_The men stared at him as the man whisked away, the boy tilting his head, wondering why the men seemed to think there was something off about the purple-eyed man's voice._

_The boy's grasp on his father's pant leg was suddenly loosened, and in a rush of wind his father was gone, appearing behind the men. They yelped in surprise, but one seemed to have been prepared, and as he swung around the father's darker blue eye glinted._

_Then his head was rolling on the floor._

"_OTOU-SAN!"_ _the boy shrieked, making a move to leap forward. His mother held him back however, not a single sound leaving her mouth. The men hacked the boy's father to pieces and when they finally calmed they turned their attention back to the boy and his mother to find that she was standing, her quartz eyes blazing with fury._

_In her veins she held poison, and she spread it through her body; her son could see that happening, because of his eyes. She looked over her shoulder to whisper to him, "Hidan, stay here, don't you move. No matter what happens to me, you stay here. I can protect you if you stay in here."_

_Hidan nodded, a strand of silver hair falling against his forehead. She turned her head back to the ogling men, eyes defiant as she said, "you can do whatever you want to me, just don't hurt my baby."_

_Hidan heard one of the men say, "you'd protect that thing with your beauty?"_

_Then she was on the floor, her skirt fluttering to the ground to soak up the blood, followed by other articles of clothing._

_Violet eyes watched all this occur, watched as one by one the men raped his mother, and there was nothing he could do about it._

_Then they noticed that something was wrong and one of them snarled, "poison! Corrosive... ACID! She's made herself acidic!"_

_One of the men who hadn't done anything to her yet raised his sword as one of his friends pulled out of her._

"_Bitch," he growled, preparing to bring his sword down._

_Hidan was no weakling. Fury boiled in his veins, his father's weapon almost beckoning to him. He was indestructible. Un-killable. His small hands made the seals for a technique only his body had the ability to withstand._

"_Forbidden Art: Forced Aging Technique!"_

_The pain that rocked his small body would be nothing compared to the pain these horrible monsters would feel, for doing what they did to his mother. To his father. To his whole family._

_One large hand picked up the scythe, and with his father's dexterity and speed he attacked, cleaving the man about to kill his mother in half. He turned on the others, leaping so that he was in the way of the door, ensuring none of them would escape._

_Blood pooled around his feet as he danced around the room, covering the walls with more blood, covering himself with blood. When he was finally finished with his rage-filled slaughter he inspected the room. One of the men twitched and the scythe was buried in him; all three blades. Hidan didn't even bother trying to pull the weapon out of the floor._

_Instead he staggered toward his naked mother, collapsing over her stomach; she had rolled over to watch him. Once his technique ended she pulled him up onto her chest, and his face found comfort in her neck._

"_Oh baby. Oh my poor baby! Sh! Sh, don't you cry. Sh..." her tears, however, fled down her cheeks too and mingled with Hidan's as they too slid down his face._

The scream that burst forth from deep in the immortal's lungs was cut short from lack of voice. His breathing was heavy and labored, _'of all... of all the damn memories -! Why that! Why did I have to remember that!? Oh... gods... why...?'_ he was sure that if he had the ability to speak his voice would have broken at the last few words. He was certain there were tears streaming down his cheeks, but he couldn't be sure. Even though he knew his breathing was labored, something was off. His body wasn't responded to his commands, and though he felt something warm...

Warmth... it seemed distant from him. How far underground was he? He was dying to know. That was the first part of his memories that returned, the horrible first few years of his life. He had vomited a lot after that, the next day. His mother had stayed by his side faithfully, holding him tenderly. They had buried his father under the weeping willow that grew in the courtyard, and then they had retreated to the furthermost home of their complex, the house that held the hidden room.

He tried to call a picture of that room to his mind, where he had slept peacefully by his mother's side for almost a year. His eyes closed again, and he hoped – no, he prayed – that he would fall into a dreamless sleep.

And even as dreams eluded him, nightmares came.

_He sat statue still outside the plank in the wall that led into the hidden room, where his mother was resting. Even though it had been a year since he turned six and the men had come to destroy his clan, she still needed to recover from spreading her poison through her body._

_Hidan's ears pricked up – he was now a seven year old, and better trained – he had heard something that sounded like a sob. It couldn't have come from his mother because he couldn't hear her and she couldn't hear him. She wouldn't be able to hear anything that he could hear._

_The door opened and a man poked his head inside. He looked young with short brown hair. He sighed and opened the door fully. Hidan allowed his eyes to widen slightly as he saw the cutlass that the man carried. It had the insignia of a Punisher on it – in Yugakure, the Punishers were a group of men and women that carried out the capital punishment on criminals. One of these Punishers was crying; that was who Hidan had heard._

"_Well... it looks like this place is empty too. But... are you absolutely _certain_ that no one lives here anymore?"_

"_After the clan was destroyed a year ago? Positive. No one wants to come here," an older man entered, shaking his head, "that clan didn't deserve to die. Damn extremists. How dare they go so far. I'm glad they got killed in the process."_

_People of every shape and size shuffled into the room. It was obvious for Hidan to see the prisoners. They were the people who were wearing the shackles._

_Hidan's body shook slightly as the punishing began, but at least these people were quick about their business. Once they were done they cleaned up, some of them cursing._

"_I wish we had turpentine. That might be able to slow down how fast the blood dries," the young man's words were not spoken as a joke, and nobody laughed. The oldest man nodded his head in agreement, "yes, it might. Even though it's meant for paint, I suppose we should give it a try."_

_They all nodded solemnly before they left the building, leaving the door propped open. Hidan waited a few moments before jumping up and scampering over to the door, leaning out curiously. His guess had been right. The Punishers were camping out in his clan's complex, oblivious to his and his mother's existence._

_For two years Hidan remembered sitting statue still outside the plank-door, faithfully guarding his mother. The Punishers had to move further and further into the room, closer to the plank, closer to Hidan._

_It was about a week before he turned eight that the worst of the punishing happened._

"_Goodness, how many have received capital punishment again?"_

"_About two hundred."_

"_Gawds. You're joking."_

"_Nope. We better get to work. This place needs to be _cleaned_ from top to bottom when we're done, 'cause it's the only place that's completely empty. And by place I mean the entire complex of houses."_

"_Hai."_

_The young man that had first poked his head in two years ago stood closest to Hidan, about four feet away. By the way he grimaced when the eldest killed the first prisoner told Hidan that he despised his job._

_Hours went by. Men and women were killed in ways Hidan had never thought possible for them to be killed. In a moment of ecstasy, one of the girl's used a wind technique, blowing guts and skin and hair and nails all over everyone. They all turned their heads slowly to glare at her as she breathed in and out heavily._

_The only sound in Hidan's ears was a low humming. There was a hand lying at his feet, a broken liver on his shoulder, oozing out its liquids. Some hair was on his head, skin on his bare chest – what little of it was exposed by his legs – and something warm and slimy against his lips. His whole body was bathed in blood._

"_... DID YOU HONESTLY HAVE TO DO THAT?!" the man closest to him screeched. The girl smiled sheepishly, though her expression quickly changed to one of guilt._

"_I... I'm really sorry I didn't mean to... I really didn't..." she shuffled on her feet then looked up at the boy and said, "sorry Makoto."_

"_E gads woman!" the one she called Makoto exclaimed before storming out of the building._

"_... so if I felt like being mean, I'd tell you to clean this all up yourself. Seeing as two of the other homes are cleaned out though, you're one lucky girl."_

_The girl sighed in relief and they all quickly left as she muttered, "I did finish them off quickly enough though, didn't I?"_

_Hidan sat there for at least a half hour longer, completely unaware of his surroundings._

"_Hidan?" the plank creaked open, his mother's voice reaching his ears._

"_Hidan -? Oh... Oh my... Oh my gawd... Oh gawd... Oh Hidan!"_

_He was scooped up in her arms, the insides falling off his body as she hastily sped out of the building, sliding a little on all the blood. Hidan caught sight of the organ that had been against his lips. An intestine splatted happily onto the ground._

It was the most inhuman scream that had ever left his mouth, he decided as he woke up. Again his breathing was heavy, his heart pounding in his chest. He tried to move again, ignoring the pain that cut through every nerve in his body. He pressed his face as much against his arm as he could, unconsciousness beginning to come over him again as he whispered, "mother, oh mother... why? Why me?"

_She had cleaned him off of all the slime and juices and skin. He was stunned that she had actually gone off to find hot water. It felt nice though, to be washed by his mother again._

_She held him in her lap under a tree, and they gazed up at the stars. She bit into a peach and Hidan held up his hands. His left side was pressed against her chest. She laughed quietly, a nice sound that made him feel comforted. Her head dipped down and her lips pressed gently to his._

"_No, no, deary. This one's for me. I left a bigger one in the room for you, but right now I want you to sleep."_

_Hidan licked his lips, savoring the peachy taste left behind by his mother's lips. He was soon to fall asleep, and when he woke there was a small, warm body against his chest. Immediately he was fully awake, and soon he was staring down at the chubby body of a one year old child. His intense stare went to his mother._

"_Hidan, that's... that's your little brother."_

"_My little..." Hidan's eyes went back to look down at the baby. He rested a hand gently on the soft black hair that was growing out of the child's scalp. He stroked the baby's head; he liked how the hair felt, he decided. The baby's eyes slowly opened and Hidan jumped a little. The baby's eyes were the same color as his, except that they were more diluted. Less striking and brilliant, but they still glittered._

"_Mama, what's his name?" he asked as he let his little brother clutch his pointer finger in a tiny hand._

"_Asa."_

_On Hidan's eighth birthday, he once again sat faithfully outside the plank, guarding his mother and little brother. Makoto suddenly burst into the room, followed by the other Punishers. He stormed over to his original position four feet from Hidan, and waited for the people in front of him to finish lining up._

_Makoto used a strange technique; it made the criminals before him turn to dust. The other Punishers were looking at him in envy, and he ignored them. His technique didn't work on the last prisoner in the line, and Hidan realized as Makoto bent over in exhaustion that the man was low on chakra. When one of his colleagues began making their way over he held up a hand, "no, I can finish it," and he pulled out his rapier. In one swift motion it sliced through the criminal's neck, leaving his head to roll across the floor. Blood sprayed everywhere._

_Just like his father. Just like Hidan's father's death._

_Hidan was unaware of his next action. He only wanted to get away from the blood, but in doing so he had jumped up. After a minute of only hearing his pounding heart, he looked up to find that all the Punishers were staring at him – the criminals too – some of them even frozen in action._

_Hidan bolted, whizzing past all of them. He had no idea where his legs took him but it was elsewhere, his mother and brother completely forgotten. He ran until he could run no more and his legs gave out._

_He crawled toward a tree, and once he reached it he leaned against it, drawing his legs up to his chest. His whole entire body shook with fear, his eyes wide. He raised his hands, staring at them in shock._

_His father's head. He could have sworn he saw his father's head rolling away. He shook his head vigorously, trying to shake away the image. It hadn't been his father. It had been someone else; a criminal. His father was not a criminal._

_He suddenly remembered kissing his father's head's forehead. He tried to shake that away too, tried to shake away any image of his father's death from his mind._

_A raspy but pleasant sounding voice broke his thoughts, "hey, are you okay?"_

_Hidan had been unaware up to that moment that he was making odd noises that made it sound like he was cold. He could only shake his head as he observed this man. He had bright yellow eyes, his hair either dark gray or black – in his current condition Hidan couldn't really tell. He also looked very young, but there was something about his electric eyes that held some kind of hint that there was wisdom hidden within them._

_The sunlight glinted off of a necklace of sorts hanging from the man's neck, and as the man reached forward to cautiously touch Hidan's shoulder Hidan made out the symbol: an upside down triangle in a circle._

_The man pulled back and tilted his head, while Hidan looked down at his hands. He blinked, and began to hyperventilate as he suddenly realized that there was blood all over his body. Somebody else's blood. Blood that wasn't his. Blood that could have been his father's._

_Blood that was on his hands._

"_Ge-ge... get... get it... GET IT OFF OF ME!! GET IT OFF!!" he suddenly screamed, falling over and writhing on the ground. He was scooped up as the man hastily hollered over Hidan's screaming, "okay, okay! I'll get it off!"_

"_GET IT OFF OF ME! GET IT OFF! OFF!" tears were sliding down Hidan's cheeks as he threw his head back and cried at the top of his lungs. His body was enveloped by cold water a second later, bubbles escaping out of his mouth in large groups._

_Large hands curled around his arms and pulled him out of the water before the man hugged Hidan to his chest and shot off again. The forest was a blur around Hidan – this man was amazingly fast. He still screamed though and when the man came to a stop Hidan heard a woman cry out, "hot spring? Need bath, man? Come, come follow me hurry!"_

_The man quickly followed the woman, who ushered him inside a building of sorts._

"_On the right, man! Boys go there, hurry hurry! Poor little boy!"_

_The man burst into the onsen area where several other men turned their attention to them. One of them called out, "holy crap! Is that kid okay?!"_

"_No! There is no way in heck this kid okay! Freaking clean him off!"_

_Hidan, as if on cue, shrieked again as he saw that his hands were still red. He began to struggle in the man's arms._

"_Quick, give him to me!" Hidan calmed at the sound of that voice. The voice was low and comforting, and Hidan's screaming simmered down to sobs as he was taken into the arms of a grandpa like man. The white beard and wrinkles around the man's eyes showed that he had taken care of many children in his time._

"_Use that cloth there. Yes, the black one. And this soap. Here; be gentle now," he instructed smoothly while carefully pouring hot water over Hidan's head. A younger boy, probably about twelve, shielded Hidan's eyes with his hands to keep the water from getting in them._

_Finally in control of himself, Hidan looked over his shoulder to see that the man who had picked him up was leaving, and that another man was arriving. Hidan's hiccups ceased almost immediately when he saw the glossy black eyes of the man's friend._

_This new man had shoulder length black hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. Hidan was in slight shock as he saw the yellow eyed man lean toward the raven looking character and say to him, "he's the one," before whisking out the door._

_Black eyes were gazing steadily into wide violet orbs as the man's friend appeared in front of Hidan and said in a soft, chiming voice, "hello there, little one. My name is Rafael."_

_Hidan stared at the necklace that hung from his neck, made of black steel, the upside-down triangle in the circle making it's appearance again._

_About half an hour later – and after Hidan remembered that he's abandoned his mother and brother and burst into tears because of that – the door to the onsen opened and his mother's voice screeched, "WHERE'S MY BABY?!?!"_

_The men in the room blinked at her, several of the younger men blushing. She took no heed of them, her quartz eyes finally finding Hidan. She was quickly by his side, gathering him up in her arms and hugging him to her chest, weeping against his head. Her lips touched his forehead. Hidan stared over her shoulder as she picked him up, staring at the man with yellow eyes who held his brother._

_There was a gentle smirk playing upon his lips._

The memories were suddenly whizzing by in a blur, unimportant and less potent. Things he didn't need to remember, not now. The man was named Nathan, and he vowed to take care of Hidan and his family. Another memory brought itself up, something important.

_His mother was just walking down the hall; Hidan could see her. He wondered if she would remember what he looked like when he had forced his body to age. He had only managed to make it to twenty-two the first time he used the technique. Would his age increase if he tried it now?_

_When he glanced at the mirror that was propped next to him, he was startled to see how he looked. His analysis of himself was cut short, however, when a dainty hand touched his cheek._

_He turned his violet eyes to his mother, glad for the darkness that hid their color. He was supposed to be in bed._

"_I haven't seen you around here before."_

"_Nor have I, you," he replied, startling himself with his low, smooth voice. He knew it really wasn't right to mess with his mother's mind like he was, but he couldn't help it. She tilted her head at him, confused. Hidan inwardly panicked; what if she recognized his eyes?_

_Her confused expression changed to curiosity, and she raised a hand to his cheek. Before he knew what was happening his mother's lips were pressed to his in a less than innocent kiss. He stood stock still in shock, and waited until she pulled away._

_He opened his eyes, and blinked, surprised that he had closed them. His mother gave him an odd look before continuing down the hall, toward the room she had rented for the three of them. Quickly he darted down the hall and out the building, before swiftly scaling the wall and clambering through the window, dropping softly onto the bed. He canceled his technique and pulled his little brother to his chest, moments before his mother opened the door._

_He listened as she quickly locked the door before crawling into bed behind him. He fell into a deep sleep shortly after that._

This was the last part of the nightmare before a brilliant light burst through his thoughts. There was a shadow in that light, and then several shadows, then hundreds. He recognized some of the shadows, but he couldn't see them that clearly. He remembered that old lady... hadn't he and... who was he?

Oh. Right.

"_My name's Nathan, kid."_

"_... yellow eyes."_

"_It's Nathan. Naaa-thaaaan. Do I have to sound my whole name out for you?" Nathan leaned down and glared at Hidan, who glared right back. The taller man sighed and straightened, Hidan deciphering that Nathan was in no mood to deal with the ten year old._

"_Yeesh, kids these days... anyway, come on. I'm taking you to Old Lady Jen's place. Aw, come on, you'll like her," Nathan insisted, grabbing Hidan's arm. Hidan struggled vehemently and Nathan picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. Hidan pounded his fists against Nathan's back, "put me down!"_

"_No way hosay. You'll just run off and I'll have to go catch you," they came up to a quaint old cottage. Hidan allowed himself to calm down – he just didn't like being separated from his mother and brother. Poor little Asa was only two, though he _was_ almost three. Hidan just felt like the little boy couldn't defend himself._

_Old lady Jen opened the door when Nathan knocked and clapped her wrinkled hands together. Hidan smiled up at her, the perfect picture of innocence. Some of Nathan's friends had actually called him innocent when they first saw him, though Nathan had informed them bitterly that the only innocence left in Hidan was his virginity. His eyes and ears, even mouth, Nathan had said, were already defiled by "fools that lacked common sense of mercy"._

_Hidan still didn't understand what that last phrase meant, but Nathan's friends had solemnly nodded their heads._

"_Well, hello there, little boy. What's your name?" Jen asked, leaning down to inspect Hidan. Hidan patted her cheek with one of his hands, "I'm Hidan."_

"_My, my, aren't you a cutie," she straightened and looked up to Nathan, "I have a fly infestation in the attic. Think you boys can do something about it while I prepare some lunch."_

_Nathan nodded and led Hidan up the stairs. While the older man happily chased down the flies and squished them, Hidan stared at the one he found, resting his head on his arms. He had folded his arms over the window sill, watching the fly as it danced about on his arm, scared of him and yet oddly calm around him. He didn't quite understand why the fly was so calm around him._

_It suddenly began buzzing crazily against the glass and Hidan lifted his head, seeing that Nathan had come up to stand behind him._

"_You scared it," Hidan scolded, glaring up at the older man. Nathan quirked an eyebrow at him, before suggesting, "just kill the thing already. It's not like it's going anywhere when it dies."_

"_NO!" Hidan shrieked in shock, wrapping both his hands gently around the fly, "it's just an innocent fly! It never did anything wrong, and it never hurt anything. Honestly, it's just a little fly, what could it possibly do? And what did it ever do to you to deserve to die!?"_

_Nathan's yellow eyes widened at Hidan's mini rant while Hidan pushed open the window and tossed the fly out, watching it buzz away._

_Once they had eaten Nathan informed Hidan that he had to leave. Hidan, his eyes growing wide and fearful, hopped off his chair and followed Nathan to the door, clutching Nathan's leg when the older man made a move to leave._

"_Where are you going?"_

"_I need to... go teach a class at the Boarding School we walked by earlier."_

_Hidan remembered that place. Everyone there had looked so young: too beautiful and too handsome. The place had a very inhuman aura about it, and Hidan didn't like the place. He didn't like the haunting beauty of all the women and the deathly stares of all the men._

_He backed away though, keeping his eyes downcast as he backed into Old lady Jen._

"_Nathan."_

"_Hm?"_

"_... something bad is going to happen to my mother. Something bad is going to happen to her today, right?"_

_Nathan was oddly silent, and Hidan knew he was guilty as charged. He bit his lip, holding back a cry of fury as Nathan gave a one-worded reply, "yes," before he disappeared with the wind, to do whatever sick thing he was going to do to Hidan's mother. The small boy just turned around and buried his face in Old lady Jen's apron, letting the older woman rock him to sleep in his lap in her rocking chair as she sang sweet, motherly songs to him._

_And when the clock struck twelve, Hidan felt like a part of his heart had just been severed away, resulting in him covering most of Old lady Jen's dress with blood._

_'If only they... knew... if only they... if only they knew what I had gone through... as a kid... if only...'_

Shikamaru.

--

The Nara household was quiet, save for a certain teenager's heavy breathing.

"That... that was just a dream right?" he leaned his head back, gasping for breath. The shadow's were playing tricks on him, his mind was playing tricks on him. He relaxed and lay back down, "yes, that was just a dream."

From the shadow's he heard a deep, dark, rasping chuckle, and his brown eyes shot open, "a dream? What, do you plan on fooling yourself more, child? You freed me. I called you a fool, and you _will_ pay the price – whether in a merciful way or not."

There it was, that black mass of nothingness that had come out of the hole when he had blown up Hidan.

"_You fool!" the black mass snarled fiercely, "you will pay for this treachery!"_

_Shikamaru stared blankly at the black mass, recalling what Hidan had screeched moments before, "Jashin-sama will definitely punish you!"_

_Shikamaru tossed his head in arrogance, "oh yeah? Are you the mighty Jashin come to smite me already?"_

_The black mass chuckled, "no, I am much, much worse. I am destruction incarnate. I've known Hidan for twelve years, kid. You knew him for what, a day? An hour? How much do you know about him?"_

_Shikamaru was stunned to silence, and the mass continued, "that's what I thought. You know nothing. You only know what you perceive, just like I do. Hidan does not. Hidan thinks, he's smart, _intelligent._ He actually uses his brain and thinks. Seeing that I was in complete control of his actions, his words, his power... I am the one who killed your teacher, not him. Your revenge is misplaced."_

"_... you're lying!" Shikamaru snarled, throwing a kunai at the black mass. The weapon went through it, causing the spirit like being to laugh manically. Shikamaru froze. That was Hidan's laugh, coming out of a spirit's invisible mouth with a much more terrible sound._

"_Have it your way," and the spirit took off, while shouting, "I'll return to my body, and when I am finally back on my feet, we will come for you!"_

Shikamaru jumped up, done reminiscing on something that obviously wasn't true. The black mass before him was just a liar, probably conjured by Hidan to haunt him the rest of his days.

"I thought you returned to your body," he taunted. Shikamaru's words had the opposite affect of what he'd hoped for. He'd hoped that the spirit would start rambling about how it's body was buried deep underground and that it couldn't return to it due to that fact. There were suddenly eyes in the black mass, wide eyes and a vicious, psychotic looking grin to go along with it.

Then out of the black mass stepped a man, his form as physical and as real as Shikamaru's. The teen stumbled back, and fell to the ground while the man continued forward into the light. Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"Well, see here kid, I got back to my body. And I'm on my own two feet. You're lucky I'm not actually here or you'd be dead already," his words gave way to psychotic laughter, different from Hidan's and much more frightening. Shikamaru had never been so afraid in his life since he first encountered Hidan and Kakuzu.

"You... you aren't real."

The man's hand closed around Shikamaru's neck and he pulled the boy to his feet, before lifting him off the ground. Shikamaru could do nothing but stare into those electric yellow eyes, and watch as the man's black hair fell about his face. The man just laughed and laughed until Shikamaru's eyes began to droop from lack of oxygen.

"Remember me," his voice became wispy sounding, and distant. Shikamaru stared blearily at him from his position on the floor, watching as those yellow eyes faded away.

"Remember mee."

Shikamaru blinked, and blinked again, before realizing that someone was shaking him.

"Shikamaru? Son?"

"GAH!"

Shikamaru woke with a start, his heart racing in his chest. Shikaku stared at him, blinking continuously at his son.

"Uh, Shikamaru?"

"It was... it was just a dream?" Shikamaru whispered, forgetting that his father was there. He furrowed his brows, _'no. It wasn't a dream. I can feel his fingers on my neck like it really happened.'_

"Son? Why's your neck red?"

_'There! That proves it! Physical evidence! But then that means...'_ Shikamaru swallowed, then turned to face his father fully.

"Dad. There's something I need to tell you about. Something that happened after I blew up Hidan."

* * *

I hope that wasn't too terribly confusing. I put about five hours into this chapter (XD). Again, if anything confuses you or you want me to explain something in more detail, PM or say so in your review. And yes, I'm really sorry if that was too descriptive (though it probably isn't, compared to some stories I've read) BUT YOU CAN'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!!! XD I WARNED YOU TWICE!!

Yes. Review please, but don't be harsh. This is really only my take on Hidan's past, and the fact that I strongly believe he wasn't a Jashinist when he was young. And that I strongly believe that a horrible past made him the way he is in the manga/anime =(

Song playlist while writing this: "Sadness and Sorrow (both versions)" from Naruto, "What have you done now" "Memories" and "Angels" by Within Temptation, "What hurst the most" by Rascal Flatts, "My December" "What I've done" and "With You" by Linkin Park.


	2. Chapter 2

So... follow up of To Hell. Makes a bit of sense, doesn't it? Disclaimed in first chapter. And again, this is my view on Hidan's past (for this story, anyway, lol). Also a bit of foreshadowing, so pay attention. And remember that guy with purple eyes and the kid with short brown hair? Yeah, they appear again in this chapter. And did you ever wonder why Hidan's father's eyes glinted before he got killed? Hee hee hee. Not answered in this chapter, but watch out! And here's the legend again (bear with me for the next chapter too, which will also be mostly flashbacks).

_Italics _= flashback/dream

Non-italics = present time

_'I think I'm thinking this'_ = thoughts in present time

_"These words are words that will last forever" _= speaking in flashback/dream.

Looks like Hidan is done with his nightmares so his dreams are coming. Uh, as a heads up, yes, Nathan knows who Asuma, Chouji, Shika, Ino, Kotetsu and Izumo are. Why? Well, that will be explained next chapter, when Nathan comes back haunt Shika some more and rants about something important. Yep yep

Enjoy the chapter!

Song listened to repeatedly for Hidan's dance sequence: "Dirty Dancing" by New Kids on the Block. Also listened to "Some Enchanted Evening" by Emile Pandolfi.

* * *

**Chapter 2: To Heaven.**

"What are you talking about, son?"

So Shikamaru explained to Shikaku about the black mass, how it had spoken to him that day and about how it acted toward him today.

"... and then it took on a physical form and... choked me a bit. That's why my neck's red. He had bright yellow eyes, but it was too dark to really make out any of his other features."

Shikaku's eyes widened and he stood abruptly. Shikamaru stared up at him in surprise, "dad?"

"I'm going to tell the Hokage about this," was the reply as Shikaku turned. Shikamaru lunged and managed to latch onto his dad's pant leg, "what? Why?!"

"Shikamaru. There is a possibility that Hidan was never the only Jashinist," at this Shikamaru's face paled, "and if this black mass knows Hidan, and has vowed that you will be punished, then I'm afraid that any other Jashinist may find out and come for you themselves," Shikaku took a breath, "now I don't know what Hidan means to this... _man_ you described but... Shika, I have a really bad feeling about this."

With that Shikaku withdrew from the room and Shikamaru watched as his father sprinted off.

"It – it can't be that bad.... can it?" Shikamaru whispered to himself, staring out the window. A grin was suddenly visible in the glass, and when Shikamaru whipped his head around there was nothing behind him.

As he looked back at the window, he saw a girl with blood on her hands, a terrified expression on her face, sliding down the window.

--

Consciousness was not willing to bestow itself upon the trapped immortal. His body still refused to listen to his commands, and even when he did almost wake up he fainted due to the sheer pain his body was in. He was still subject to nightmares; hellish nightmares.

They changed, though. Something about them changed as the years passed by. He was dreaming now.

"_Asa! Oh, goodness, child, do stop that nonsense and come here!"_ _the woman had never sounded to furious. She chased Asa around the lot, the little four year old giggling madly. Hidan was resting under a tree, Nathan's jacket draped over his figure. Nathan was wading in a river, and he stopped half-way, looking up at nothing._

"_Watching the clouds again," Hidan mumbled, violet eyes cracking open and flicking in Nathan's direction. The older man smiled gently – something he did rarely – and replied, "you act so much older than you actually are. Get a grip, kid."_

"_And you act hundreds of years younger than you are," the twelve-year-old retorted, eyes turning back to watch Nathan's friend chase Asa. She had finally caught him and was walking toward Hidan. Hidan hadn't liked her since they first met: she was vicious and cruel, merciless and relentless. Perfect for Nathan, it seemed, but nothing had ever happened between the two. She set Asa down next to Hidan, and the little boy clambered into his older brother's lap, snuggling up against his chest._

_Hidan lifted a hand and rested it on Asa's head, closing his eyes again._

_The sun woke him up hours later, and he found that he was still draped in Nathan's jacket, yet now he was being carried by the older man. There was a hitai-ate on Hidan's chest, and though he was curious to know what it was, he was too tired to pick it up. There was a clinking metal sound, and Hidan knew that Nathan was carrying a weapon of some sort on his back._

"_Where's Asa?" he asked quietly, violet eyes staring at the scenery that passed by. They were on a path of some kind, heading toward the village up ahead. The sun was setting in the distant; its warm rays made Hidan sleepy again._

"_With Meredith," Nathan mumbled, glancing down at Hidan. Hidan leaned his head against Nathan's chest, closing his eyes and falling asleep._

_When Hidan awoke again it was to a crispy cool morning. He sat up – Asa lay unperturbed at his side – and looked out the window. The grass was sparkling in the light of the rising sun. He was mesmerized by the beauty of the scene outside the window, and he carefully crawled over Asa to lift the glass. Cool air rushed against his face and a small zephyr nipped at his ears and bare chest._

_The sun fought to warm him against the winds cold fingers. Hidan closed his eyes enjoying the feeling of being cold and then being warm before he carefully closed the window._

_He pulled the blankets more tightly over Asa and kissed the little boy's forehead before hopping over to the door. The floor was quite cold and he slipped on his shoes before reaching up and snagging his coat off the hook it hung on. Pulling it on he made his way to the door, grabbing the keys off the shelf._

_He knew Asa would wake up within the next two hours, so he needed to be back before then. His little brother would probably start crying loudly if he couldn't get out of the room; the small boy still wasn't tall enough to reach the lock himself._

_After locking the door he silently made his way downstairs. He walked into the lobby and the innkeeper gave him a wave. He waved back and smiled, his head turning back to look at the door. He stopped dead in his tracks when the door opened and a group of shinobi strolled in._

_By their dress they looked like they'd been traveling for a while. Some of them were breathing heavily. The innkeeper hurried over, and Hidan's peace seemed to shatter in his mind. He took a cautious step toward them, staring intently. One of them noticed him and stared back, his eyes bright red with dots in them. Hidan tilted his head and the man, seeing he meant no harm, disabled whatever strange eye technique he was using._

"_Can you do something about this, innkeeper?" a female voice asked. Hidan turned his eyes to the innkeeper, and saw that a shinobi was being propped in a woman's arms. All the others looked worried except the man with a permanent frown on his lips. Hidan took a few more steps toward them, and saw red pooling on the floor._

_The teenager in the woman's arms was injured, badly._

"_I... I'm no medic, and this wound... I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do," the innkeeper admitted quietly, hands dropping back to his side, stained red. The woman closed her eyes tightly and Hidan heard himself say, "I can heal him."_

_All eyes were on him as he finished his cautious walk toward them. He raised his hands, flexing them three times until his fingers were straight. He held them over the wound. It was jagged and ripped looking, like it had been caused by some vicious animal with shark teeth._

_Hidan's hands glowed green with healing chakra, and slowly the wound closed. He made a few seals, making the blood go away. He took a step back, and looked up at the frowning man who now had a shocked expression on his face._

"_That's the best I can do. Make sure he gets lots of rest, and don't let him use any techniques until he's fully healed. That wound cut pretty deep, seriously."_

_Hidan turned on his heel and headed for the door, letting the innkeeper take care of the rest. The frowning man's onyx eyes stayed glued to his back until the door closed, cutting off his view of Hidan._

_The young boy took a deep breath; the air was still crisp, a small fog resting over the peaceful village. He dashed over to the grass that the window of his room overlooked, listening as it crunched a bit under his feet. The whole area was covered in frost._

_Hidan raised one hand into the air, staring up at it. The next thing he knew his arm was swaying, his body slowly swaying like his hand was. He turned in a half-circle, bringing his hands down to his chest, then stretching them out to his sides. He bent his left arm back toward his body so that it hovered in front of his chest, his feet turning toward the left. He switched directions, his left arm straightening as his right arm bent and his hand came over to his chest, feet turning to the right. His head followed the direction of his feet._

_He repeated the motion twice, then rose his arms into the air and spun. He bent his body forward as soon as the spin ended, his fingers brushing the ground. He threw his arms back, his body bending to make a bridge. Hands firmly on the ground, he kicked on leg over his head, the other following swiftly. He stood straight, head pressed against his back. He felt like he was being guided; like he was being protected._

_His body rippled back and forth, arms rising with the motion and spun again, before leaping out to the right. He landed and spun again, before rocking his body from left to right. His arms went out straight and he crisscrossed his legs as he rushed over the grass. As he went he brought his left hand over his chest, right arm staying out-stretched. His arms switched positions, and he repeated the motion before raising his right arm in the air while his left stayed over his chest._

_He changed directions, and once he reached the spot he had started from his left arm rose in the air, right arm staying over his chest._

_He leapt across the ground, like a ballerina might. His hands guided his movements, and as he bent back to create a bridge his right leg kicked out when his left hand touched the ground, his left leg following after his right hand touched the ground. He landed gracefully on both legs._

_The scenery changed, becoming a grand hall. After he landed on his feet he bent back again, only to raise one leg in the air and twirl on his other foot. His leg came back down and he spun across the floor, aware of the gazes he was receiving from the bystanders. As Hidan danced he heard snippets of the conversation to the side._

"_Are you _sure_ you didn't teach this to him Nathan?" the old monk asked, tapping Nathan's foot with his cane. Yellow eyes stared down at the younger man. The people were cut off from Hidan's eyes as he spun on one foot, much like a ballet dancer would._

"_I'm positive I didn't teach him. He was just doing the dance one morning, when frost was covering the ground," Hidan leapt, eyes flickering to Nathan, before he dropped into a crouched position. The woman with the three men 'hm'ed._

_Hidan's body rippled like a wave back up into a standing position before he flipped backwards, landing in a kneeling position. His hands waved around elegantly as the old monk spoke, "that's incredible. He knows the entire dance, plus he added his own touch," the monk coughed, "it just seems too impossible."_

"_Maybe she's guiding him," Nathan offered, "maybe the Holy Sects demi-god is guiding him because she knows. Like I know. I told you, he's the one. He's the one."_

"_By the time he's eighteen, he better be the one," the monk said firmly, hard black eyes meeting yellow. The old monk's eyes rested on Hidan again, as the fifteen year old finished the final spin, and came to a full stop, breathing heavy. The old monk hobbled forward, and once he reached Hidan he rested a wrinkled old hand on his arm._

"_You boy, you show promise. Normally others would have to learn that dance from someone else in our religion before actually being able to personalize it. You have proven otherwise. I'm impressed. Stay with us a while," and the old man hobbled off._

_Hidan's violet eyes sought Nathan, and he saw that the taller immortal was swelling with pride, like Hidan was his own son. Asa's diluted purple eyes were wide with awe, and he ran toward his older brother who scooped him up in his arms. Asa giggled madly when Hidan spun around, and stretched his arms up into the air when Hidan came to a stop._

"_Brother dances good!" Asa squeaked, clapping his small hands together. Hidan just smiled at him adoringly before resting his violet eyes on Nathan. The older man was nodding his head, a small smile on his lips._

He clung to that memory, the first time he did that dance. Seeing Nathan swell with pride like that had filled him with so much joy, and little Asa... his precious little brother.

"_Happy sweet sixteen, Hidan!"_

_Hidan's eyes widened as he entered the room. He was bombarded by confetti and silly string, and he found himself nearly being hugged to death by a certain female from the Holy Sect. He stared down at Umeko's black head, before being forced to look up as half the people in the room decided to encircle him._

"_Oh damn. Hidan! Hidan, are you in there?!"_

_Hidan could only raise an arm and wave it around frantically. Someone sighed and then bellowed, "for goodness sake give the kid some room!"_

_Everyone scattered, those from the Devil Sect returning to their side of the room and those in the Holy Sect returning to theirs. Hidan then felt very awkward, standing in the middle of the room._

"_Uh... I feel awkward now, seriously."_

_Everybody laughed, and a man with black shaggy hair rolled his eyes, shaking his head. Hidan's eyes narrowed at him – he was the demi-god of the Devil Sect, a cruel man with slate gray eyes and thick black lines where his lower lashes should be. Hidan crossed his arms._

"_I see you don't want to be here, Jashin. Why don't you flippin' _leave_, then?"_

_Jashin tensed, and the Devil Sect "ooh"ed while most of the Holy Sect cringed. Nathan also tensed, eyes on his Sect's leader. The demi-god of the Holy Sect – Zhira – glared at Jashin, her red eyes blazing._

"_I know what you're thinking. Give it up. I won't let you _touch_ him. And you _will_ stay."_

"_Wha? Why?! I can't stand this punk!"_

_Zhira took a step forward, her pose very threatening, "you will stay because I said you will!" her voice held an air of command and Hidan shrunk back a little. Maybe he shouldn't have mocked the other man._

_Jashin took a breath, as if he was going to argue more but he ducked his head, complying. Satisfied, Zhira beckoned to Hidan, "come, precious boy. Sit with me."_

_Hidan obediently went, and he curled up against her side like a cat. Her manicured hand stroked his head, her finger nails carefully dragging through his hair. Hidan glanced up at her to see that she was staring at Jashin, her eyes laughing. When he looked at Jashin he saw that the man was absolutely furious – not to mention jealous – that Hidan got to be so close to Zhira._

_Hidan gave Jashin even more reason to be jealous as he straightened a little, burying his face in Zhira's neck. This made the demi-god laugh in surprise, her hand returning to stroke Hidan's head adoringly. Her lips brushed over the tip of his ear when she turned her head and whispered, "my, my, aren't you being a pretty little pet today," her nails trailed behind Hidan's ear, making him shiver, "what a sweet, sweet boy."_

_Hidan turned his head up so he could look at her, and he saw her four round pupils flick at Jashin, her red irises staying focused on him, along with her slit pupils. All six pupils were looking at him again, "though you should stop mocking Jashin. If I'm not around when you do, I can't guarantee your safety. Don't forget that Jashin and I are the only one's that can kill immortals."_

_Hidan nodded before saying, "Nathan usually hangs around his side though, seriously. I – I'm not trying to uh, make up an excuse to mock him, though."_

_She smiled wickedly at him, turning her body more toward him while the people around them danced about, happily celebrating Hidan's sixteenth birthday._

"_You are _so_ cute. If you weren't so young, and didn't show so much promise," she licked her lips, "I'd make you my Dove."_

_Hidan's cheeks reddened at the comment. The Dove was the demi-god's lover, the one that was engaged to the demi-god. On the Dove's eighteenth birthday the plans for an extravagant wedding were made, and the demi-god and the Dove were wed. The Dove's gender depended entirely on the gender of the demi-god. If the demi-god was female the Dove was male, and if the demi-god was male the Dove was female._

_Of course, the Dove was the term used for the bride – or groom – of the demi-god of the Holy Sect. For the Devil Sect the Dove was known instead as the Raven, and the personalities of the two were entirely different. Hidan recalled that the Dove was someone who "was a healer, either by training or by birth, defensive in personality, loving, compassionate, unwilling to kill and destructive when the demi-god is threatened". The Raven, on the other hand, had to be "cruel, malicious, vicious, merciless, sadistic, aggressive in personality and utterly unforgiving when the demi-god is threatened"._

_Hidan's eyes flicked back to Zhira before he finally took interest in the play being acted out before them. His brows furrowed; he recognized one of the actors. The play finished and the boy's warm orange eyes rested on Hidan. Both men froze, staring at each other._

_The boy's hair was short and brown, his face strong and his figure muscular. Hidan jolted to his feet, startling Zhira. She must have noticed that Hidan was staring at the orange eyes boy, as she cautiously said, "Hidan?"_

_He rose his hand slightly at her, as if to say stop and he approached the boy. Everyone else was looking between the two in confusion. When Hidan was standing in front of him the boy spoke, "you... aren't you... you're..."_

"_You were the Punisher that stood closest to me, weren't you? You tried to keep me from running that day, right?"_

_The boy nodded, staring at Hidan as if he had never seen Hidan before._

"_You're Makoto."_

"_Yes."_

_Zhira was suddenly next to Hidan, and she turned Hidan's head so that he was looking down at her. It still shocked Hidan to see that Zhira was smaller than him._

"_What? You know Makoto?"_

"_No, it's just that..." Hidan stiffened reflexively and jerked his head out of her hand, looking away, "it relates to my past. I don't want to ruin everybody's day with something as sick as my frikkin' past, seriously."_

_Zhira frowned at him, before taking Hidan's hand and dragging him away from Makoto. Hidan watched as Makoto was surrounded by others, all of them wanting to know what part Makoto had had in Hidan's past. The boy kept his lips sealed, much to Hidan's relief. Their eyes met once more before Hidan looked back to see who Zhira was trying to introduce him to._

_He nearly saw red and his pulse pounded in his ears, but he controlled himself. Before him stood the man with purple eyes, one of the partakers in the slaughter of Hidan's clan. Before Hidan could even speak a word or Zhira could ask what was wrong the man spoke, "I apologize for partaking in the slaughter of your clan, and what happened to you as a result of that."_

"_... what?"_

"_I can see the effects. You're afraid of being covered in blood; other people's blood," the man smiled. His voice made Hidan think he was hundreds of years older than he looked._

"_I'm Nao, Hidan. One of the oldest members of the Holy Sect, but younger than Nathan."_

_Hidan's curiosity spiked, "how old is Nathan?"_

"_Five hundred sixteen," Nao answered before adding, "you were born the day he turned five hundred."_

_Hidan stared at him as Zhira said, "Nao is my advisor. He is very wise; you should spend a lot of your time with him."_

_Hidan looked down at her and smiled, "I.. I guess I will. Some other time."_

_Nao frowned, "don't leave this room tonight with an unforgiving heart. Forgive me, Hidan," Nao swept down into a bow, "before your heart is ruined by hate."_

_Hidan stared at him in shock, taking a step back. He knew what the older man meant; Hidan didn't want his heart to be ruined by hate._

"_Nao, I forgive you but I... I don't think I can forgive _them_. That's asking too much, seriously."_

_Nao straightened and smiled at Hidan, "I can't change that. Just don't hate them, Hidan. You can forgive them, you just aren't ready yet."_

_Hidan's chest lightened at those words, and he smiled, "I'd like to enjoy my party, now."_

_Zhira grinned and Nao laughed, because it was almost like Hidan's words were a cue for the whole entire room to mass-hug him._

_Outside the room was dark, and Hidan was leaning against the balcony, staring at the sky. Umeko and Masumi – another girl he had met that night, introduced to him by Umeko – had taken Asa to bed. Makoto and Hidan had exchanged a few words, a string of apologies laced into the other boy's words. They had talked about how the other had been after their experiences._

"_You're lucky Nathan found you, I guess. Maybe he was led to you by our god."_

_Hidan sighed, lowering his head, when other voices reached his ears. He instantly tensed; he recognized Jashin's voice._

"_For goodness sake, girl! Why can't we? Is it forbidden for demi-gods to love?"_

"_Obviously it is, you fool! Don't you remember what happened when two opposites fell in love, and the monks allowed it to go through? The demi-gods had to sacrifice themselves to kill them!"_

_Silence followed and Hidan swiftly walked toward the voices. Zhira was being bothered by Jashin. Again._

"_... I do remember that."_

"_Then think of how it would be sacrilege for us to fall in love. Besides, I could never love someone like you. Your own Sect hates you, and the monks know they made the wrong choice."_

_Fury entered Jashin's voice, "that's not my fault! Nathan just won't let himself get picked, every time he's one of the candidates!"_

_Hidan watched as Zhira turned her body toward Jashin, resting a hand on the balcony, "that's because I, nor anyone before me, could _ever_ control Nathan. Do you have any idea how powerful Nathan is? How powerful he will become when he becomes the demi-god?"_

"_No. No I don't know. Tell me."_

"_He's immune to the weapons that can kill us; he wiped out the people that created the weapons too. He's mastered at least one hundred forbidden techniques. You waste your time chasing me instead of getting a Raven for yourself."_

_Jashin snorted, "you don't spend anytime looking for a Dove either."_

_Hidan felt eyes on him, and he knew that Zhira was looking at him with at least two of her six pupils, "that's because the Dove I want is the one. You've heard the talk, about him being the one."_

"_The one for what?" Hidan finally asked. Jashin's head jerked up in shock while Zhira merely turned to face him. She tilted her head to the side and Hidan elaborated, "no one's telling me. I've asked some of the monks even. Not even Victor will tell me."_

_Zhira slowly nodded her head before answering, "I can't tell you much, but I'll tell you this, and let you figure out the rest. Nathan has been a candidate to be the demi-god of the Devil Sect since he joined our religion. Every time he's chosen he has refused, because the immortal chosen to be the demi-god of the Holy Sect isn't powerful enough to control him. He can become quite insane and deal large amounts of destruction to the area around him, so he needs someone that can control him from a distance. Even when I was picked he refused._

"_The Devil Sect needs a demi-god that can be liked, not loved or hated. Not even neutrally liked. For all the other demi-gods before Jashin the feelings for the demi-god were always neutral. You know Raphael, right?"_

_Hidan nodded and Zhira continued, "he was almost picked, after Nathan refused. But he said, 'the Devil Sect will neither like me nor hate me. They will love me'. I'll save the story about that for later. For now," she had an arm wrapped around Hidan's waist, and they were both facing away from the fuming Jashin, "I want you to come with me. I have to teach you how to do the pike dance before you sleep, so that you can perform your first ritual tomorrow and become a official member."_

_Hidan smiled at her and let her lead him away._

_The dance was time and strength consuming, and Hidan was extremely tired after repeating it several times, before adding the pike and actually completing the dance by stabbing himself through the heart at the end. He did that twice, and was heavy-lidded from blood loss._

_He was resting on Zhira's bed, with his pants and coat still on. Zhira had ripped his shirt off before they started practicing, saying something about it only getting in the way. Hidan thought that she only wanted a better view of his chest._

_His arm was draped lazily over her back – she was lying on top of him – and his hand flexed. She giggled, "you're so cute."_

"_You said that once already today, seriously," he mumbled tiredly, not even bothering to open his eyes. They shot open when her lips ghosted over his, her weight abruptly rising off his body._

_She was at the door and Hidan struggled to sit up as she opened it. Nathan took a step in, and after glancing at her and gaining her permission he continued toward Hidan._

"_Come on kid, just heal yourself. I'll carry you back to your room; you need as much rest as you can get."_

_Hidan nodded as green chakra encircled the wound to the right of the center of his chest. He was hoisted into Nathan's arms and carried away, down the hall and into his own room._

_The room was mostly white, with a large circular bed in the center of the wall furthest to the left. There was a balcony and glass sliding doors that stuck out from the wall adjacent to the door Nathan had just walked through. Hidan blinked before muttering, "put me down... need to... blood..."_

"_Oh, right," Nathan set him down and Hidan lazily made a few seals. The blood on his chest and coat went away. Nathan picked him up again and set him on the bed, pulling back the sheets and pulling them back over Hidan when the boy had positioned himself on the bed._

_Nathan patted Hidan's forehead, "get some sleep, kid. Teruo will wake you up in the morning. Oh, and don't forget to take a bath."_

_As Nathan left and sleep came over Hidan, he muttered, "like I'd forget to have a bath, seriously."_

_Nathan's laughter lulled Hidan to sleep._

He wanted to stay in those dreams forever, stay in those memories forever. However long forever was.

--

"What?! Are you serious? Why didn't you inform us of this before, Shikamaru!?" Tsunade exclaimed after the boy had finished telling them what he had told his father. He cringed as he replied, "I... I didn't think it was such a big deal, to be honest."

Tsunade released a frustrated sound while Shikamaru thought, _'it's such a drag to repeat myself. And having everyone else here is just troublesome.'_

Ino was staring at him in shock. It was nighttime by now, Tsunade having interrupted Shikamaru's tale several times, once to call an ANBU squad and have them go investigate Hidan's grave.

She was about to speak again when the door burst open, the ANBU squad she sent out stumbling in. The captain hurriedly spoke, "Hokage-sama! The body's still in there, for sure, but it's in one piece! Don't send us back there, please. It's terrifying just being near there."

Shikamaru stiffened and turned, asking before Tsunade could, "what do you mean?"

The captain looked at him, "I mean, someone's always talking. There's random bursts of chaotic laughter, followed by other versions of chaotic laughter and strange words. It's just... haunting."

Wind blew through the area, making the squad scramble to their feet. The starts of a laugh were heard, before it became full blown, psychotic laughter. The black mass with yellow eyes blew into the room, and then black smoke blew around the body of the man. He cackled.

"Remember me, Shikamaru? Remember me? The one who came out of the hole, the one who killed your teacher, the one that will take something precious to you."

"Get – get out of here, you... you monster!" Ino shrieked. The man blew over to her, towering over her. Sakura stiffened and Chouji yelled, "get away from her!"

"Hm, I recognize you. Your name's Ino, isn't it? You offered to distract me instead of Shikamaru taking me on alone, didn't you?"

Those that were members of team ten stared at him and he chuckled, "yes that's right. It _is _you. My aren't you pretty, girl. Oh don't look so scared; I'm not interested. But you're pretty. Just thought I'd say that. 'Cause I flatter people like that."

Ino stared at him in shock, before he grinned wickedly, his eyes widening unnaturally and his gaze turning to Shikamaru.

"The time is coming. Watch, watch for us. Watch for _me_. Watch, watch, like your life depended on it and run, cling, cling to life."

Then he was gone, like he had never been there.

* * *

I guess Shika's still experiencing Hell. Poor boy, I sympathize for you (NOT)! I hope you like how I'm playing out Hidan's past so far. And I didn't elaborate on his party 1) Because it's really not that important and 2) his dream was getting WAY too long. AND YES I TOTALLY SCREWED UP WHAT THE JASHINIST RELIGION IS PROBABLY ALL ABOUT SO DON'T TELL ME THAT!!!! It's totally messed up, what with having two sects and all this crap. But I like it that way, because my imagination needs to be able to be creative. So I'll say again like I've said so before: I came up with this idea **before** the data on Hidan came out. If you want me to make a separte fic that's just all informative about how the religion of Jashinism is in this fiction (and how it got it's name), then tell me and I'll put it up =). Hope you like it sooooo far xD


	3. Chapter 3

I was originally going to include Nathan's long-butt rant in this, but it was getting too long :/. I don't want this to turn into a twenty page chapter. So, you'll have to wait for his rant next chapter, so sorry! But yes... the last of the flash backs are in this chapter. Bleh. So difficult to write... argh. HSD, VAMP and Finally should be updating tomorrow, but that really depends on whether or not I decide getting started on my essays is more important. xD Oh and... I just realized how fun Nathan is to write. He's so... inconsistent tee-hee!

And the legend!!

_Italics _= flashback/dream

Non-italics = present time

_'I think I'm thinking this'_ = thoughts in present time

_"These words are words that will last forever" _= speaking in flashback/dream.

* * *

* * *

**Chapter 3: And Back.**

_He knew Zhira was pleased with him, even before he finished the dance. He leaned back after completing the final spin - his head was nearly touching the floor - and thrust the pike through his chest. He flipped over before falling to one knee, breathing heavily._

_Zhira's arms were around him as the mortal monks – Victor among them – nodded their heads in approval._

"_You were wonderful, Hidan. Absolutely perfect," she purred in his ear, nipping the tip. Hidan shook his head a little, gripping the pike and yanking it out of his chest._

"_Is it really _right_ for you to be teasing me, demi-god?" Hidan asked quietly, quirking an eyebrow at her. She smiled wickedly, one of her pupils flicking to look over at the monks as they approached. She kept her arms around him as they came to a stop. One of the younger men stepped forward._

"_You seem to like him, Zhira."_

"_I do like him. He's so precious," she informed them, deliberately dragging her fingernails over Hidan's bloody chest. He coiled away from her touch, fighting back a smile. She grinned at him before standing and helping him to his feet, and then healing him._

"_Welcome to the religion, Hidan."_

"_My pleasure to join," he replied as she led him away, toward a large group of people. They were from the Holy Sect by their dress, but Hidan wondered why Rafael was among them; he was a member of the Devil Sect, after all._

_The group took Hidan to a room full of clothes, and got him into an outfit. Instead of making him wear a white tight shirt like the rest of them were, they pulled a black one over his head. Somebody got a trench coat onto his arms. They continued to undulate around him, nobody speaking a word except for the soft whispers of their feet over the marble._

_He was lifted on the shoulders of a man named Titus, his hair shaved from his head except for a line running down the middle of his forehead. The rest of his scalp was covered by tattoos. Hidan was startled, but he didn't struggle or protest, because four other Holy Sect members were removing his shoes and putting white ones on. After this they slowly filed out of the room, leaving only Hidan, Titus, and Rafael._

_Titus' eyes were orange and seemed to glow, giving his whites an orange tint. Rafael's black hair was the same as it was years ago when Hidan first saw him, except something about his eyes had changed. They seemed to be a very dark purple now, instead of the black Hidan remembered seeing._

_A member of the Devil Sect and Holy Sect, staying with Hidan. It meant something, of that Hidan was sure, then he remembered that Zhira had said "if you didn't show so much promise" and the talk of him being "the one". He finally spoke, "Zhira-sama tried to explain to me why I'm called 'the one' but I still don't quite understand."_

_Rafael and Titus glanced at each other, then Rafael replied, "you are the one that can control Nathan."_

_Hidan froze, fingers twitching at his side, his arm rising stiffly to grasp the pants that Titus held out to him. His hand fell back down to his side._

"_Which means...?"_

"_If Nathan is ever chosen as a candidate to become the demi-god of the Devil Sect in the near future, you will also be chosen as a candidate. Nathan is respected and feared by the monks, so he is the only one who has ever been allowed to have a say in the matter of becoming the demi-god or not. No other candidate before him has had this privilege," Rafael explained as Hidan discarded his old pants for the new white ones. He stepped toward Hidan as Titus backed away, toward another part of the room._

_Hidan stared at him as the wiser immortal cut off part of Hidan's sleeves so that his hands were exposed._

"_I can fix this later tonight. Here, put these one," Rafael instructed when Titus handed him a few pieces of gold jewelry. There were both bracers – not bracelets – and fit snuggly around Hidan's wrist. He was also given a white pendant like the one Rafael was wearing._

"_Actually, Rafael, why is it that everyone seems to have a different one of these?" Hidan held up the pendant, "like, why does Umeko have a multi-colored, multi-triangle one that reaches down to her chest?"_

"_Umeko is what we would call a Seducee. In other words, she is a seductress. She knows better than to use her technique on other members of the religion, however."_

"_What is our religion called?"_

_Rafael told him, and Hidan nodded his head. He scratched at his neck, silently cursing the tight turtleneck, while his mind itched to ask why Rafael and Titus seemed to belong in the opposite Sect they were actually in._

"_Rafael."_

"_Yes?"_

"_Why do I feel like you don't belong in the Devil Sect?"_

"_Because I don't, Hidan. There were problems, though. You see, I am one of the Four Star Points. In other words, I am one of Jashin's wings. Titus," Rafael nodded at the large man, who smiled, "was originally the First Star Point. He, however, never got along as Jashin, and couldn't believe that he would have to be the wing of a man he despised. So he made a request to the monks to switch with the Third Point of the Holy Sect – one of Zhira's wings. The Third Point was me._

"_After much debate it was decided that yes, Titus and I would switch places. I was fine with it; I don't really mind Jashin. The other points calmed down about it too, after I joined the Devil Sect. I can never be the demi-god for it though, considering that I am from the Holy Sect."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because I will be loved by them. The demi-god must only be liked. Not despised – like Jashin – or half-liked and half-not-liked – as were all the demi-gods before Jashin. The Devil Sect likes me too much as it is; I've had several throw themselves in front of me on the battlefield," Rafael finished, resting a hand on Hidan's shoulder._

"_Now you know everything that you need to know for now. I will get you situated into the school. Titus must retire to a meeting."_

"_See you around, kid," Titus said in a low scratchy voice that sounded oddly like Nathan's voice, his large hand ruffling up Hidan's hair in an affectionate gesture. Hidan laughed lightly as he followed Rafael down the hall, opposite the way Titus was going, "I guess you can tell that you don't freaking belong because of your voice right?"_

_Rafael smiled, "yes. The voice is key to recognizing a member of the Devil Sect from a member of the Holy Sect."_

_Hidan's day passed by without much incident, except for him intervening in a fight that broke out on the campus grounds. According to Rafael, there was an invisible wall that separated the school; one side for the Devil Sect, the other side for the Holy Sect. It couldn't be passed through, except for on the grounds, a huge expanse of land that let the two Sects interact._

_How Hidan stopped their fight he didn't know, but he had a white and red, triple-bladed scythe in his hand when he stopped their attacks._

_As the two retreated to their respective sides, Hidan stared at the weapon and murmured, "father..."_

_An arm wrapped around his shoulders and Nathan landed gracefully next to him, "hey, kid. I meant to give these to you a long while back, but I didn't know if you could wield this weapon with your scrawny arms when you were a kid."_

_Hidan smiled at him, accepting the hitai-ate his father used to wear, "thanks, Nathan."_

"_Your welcome, kid," Nathan winked at him before shooting away, "now I must be off. Farewell!"_

_To Hidan's surprise he wasn't the only one who said bye; more than half the whole school said bye as well. Nathan was much more popular than Hidan would have thought._

Sweet, sweet memories. He liked those ones. He missed Nathan. He missed Umeko. He missed them all; all his close friends. His little brother, Asa. He cringed, _'Asa... Chiasa... Damn it...'_

There were only twenty-five that really meant anything to him. He missed them all, and he called all of them to his memory. He'd met all eight points at the same time – excluding Rafael and Titus – Umeko having introduced him to her friend Masumi. Asa had made a few friends it seemed too, and the little brother was eager to introduce them to him: the twins Carius and Kairius, a young sleepy lad called Chiasa and a very silent boy called Teruo.

Of course, there was Makoto and Nao, both of whom Hidan had seen prior to his sixteenth birthday. The two who he had kept from fighting were actually the only two people who could combine their curse forms, Tatsuya and Ryuu. The last four he met on the battlefield – all from the Devil Sect save for one – and because they found it in their minds to protect him.

"_I'm Nobu," the blue haired man said, his long braid whipping out behind him. The strange beasts that had come upon them were no match for Nobu's illusion, and the black eagles soaring in the sky dove down to ravage the beasts. Nobu turned his brilliant teal eyes to Hidan, and smiled._

"_Curse of Movement!"_

_Hidan's head snapped to the short black haired boy to his left; seven beasts in from of them stopped moving. He had his hands in a very strange shape; it was something Hidan had never seen before._

"_That's Jun. His can use twelve of the thirteen curses."_

"_Oh... SHIT!" the three of them leapt back, a huge snarling beast lunging right for them, smoky black claws raised. A tree came shooting out of the ground, slamming into the beast and smashing it to the earth, crushing it's bones. The man who had summoned the tree had a very hard, serious face, his eyes and hair both brown._

"_Mikio!" Jun cried, hurrying toward the man. Nobu wrapped an arm around Hidan's waist, pulling him toward Mikio, who forced away two beasts with two trees._

"_Greetings to you, young Hidan."_

"_And to you, Mikio," Hidan replied, used to the way some of the older immortals spoke by now. Another man joined them, his outfit white like Hidan's. A member of the Holy Sect, "'sup, Mikio?"_

"_Fending off demons. Can't you tell, or are you blind?"_

_The mauve haired man gave him a look, his hair shimmering in the light as he turned his head to Hidan, "hey. We haven't met, have we?"_

"_No, we haven't."_

_He stuck out his hand, lavender eyes laughing, "I'm Isamu. Pleased to meet you."_

_Hidan shook his hand as he replied evenly, "Hidan."_

His mind went on fast-forward. He was about to turn eighteen; it was two weeks to his birthday. Jashin had finally lost it, and now...

Now Zhira was fighting to protect everybody.

"_JASHIN!! SNAP OUT OF IT!"_

_She'd touched him already, to try and control his insanity, but it hadn't worked. He was still going crazy – and yelling at her too._

"_Why won't you love me? WHY ZHIRA? WHY?!"_

"_You know why!" she wrapped her hands around his neck, red eyes glowing brightly, red smoke pouring out of them. He hissed at her; the Devil Sect was moving like a wave. Only Nathan, Mikio and the Star Points seemed to be in control of their sanity. If the demi-god went insane, so did the Sect._

_A white pike appeared in Zhira's hand as she rose it into the air. She pulled Jashin closer, and over the noise of their power clashing Hidan heard her yell, "hug me you fool!"_

_And Jashin did. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, and the pike came down, through him, through her and she screeched, "Sacrifice!"_

_When Hidan managed to open his eyes again, Zhira and Jashin were gone._

"_Zhira?" he called, struggling to his feet. Others were also moving; the buildings around them had been destroyed. Immortals were getting up everywhere, and also off of the monks. Immortals protecting the mortals. How natural._

_Panic swept over Hidan, "Zhira?" he called louder, eyes scanning over the area. He spotted red, and dashed toward it._

_Soon everyone was calling out the name of their respective demi-god, no one receiving any response. Nathan hopped down next to Hidan._

"_... that all that's left, kid?"_

_Hidan looked up from staring at Zhira's eyes, "yeah, Nathan. This is all that's left."_

_Nathan took a deep breath, then looked away sharply, eyes closed. He opened them again and they flicked to behind Hidan._

_Umeko's arms came around Hidan's shoulders. He looked over his shoulder at her and accepted her kiss, "hey, baby."_

"_Hey..." she pulled back, staring sadly at the eyes, "only her eyes?"_

"_Yeah... I can't believe... I can't believe that she had to freakin' kill herself to kill him!"_

"_Hidan, there was no way Jashin was going to come out of his insanity. The only way to stop him was to kill him, and in killing him Zhira had to sacrifice herself," Hidan looked up at Victor. The old man actually looked sad._

"_You look more upset than usual, Vic. What's up? Seriously," Hidan asked while standing. Umeko wriggled under his arm, leaning her head against his chest. He stroked her face._

"_Many people have been referring to us as Jashinists. Because of what Jashin tried to do, by attempting to overthrow the Holy Sect and have the Devil Sect rule, people outside of the knowledge of our religion believe we worship him. We will play along. We 'officially' worship Jashin," Victor said, an hint of anger in his voice. He turned sad eyes to Hidan, "the death of the demi-god's also means that we have to choose new ones. And I have unfortunate news for you, Hidan. You, are a candidate to be the demi-god of the Holy Sect."_

_Such a respected and powerful position would have been happy news to Hidan, if he hadn't had a warm body by his side. He stared down at Umeko, who stared up at him, and he could see that she was torn between being sad or happy._

_Because as a candidate he was forbidden to love anybody._

_And if he was chosen as the demi-god, he would have to chose a Dove, or have nobody at all._

_He could never be with Umeko again. And for Hidan, Umeko was the only woman he had managed to find that looked even remotely similar to his mother._

_'NO! Umeko -!'_ his body jerked violently at the memory. Her face, her tears, the last night they got to spend beside each other.

_The time had come for the new demi-gods to be chosen, and Nathan confidently stepped up to the position. A roar of happiness rose from the Devil Sect, and Nathan nodded at Hidan. Hidan stepped up to stand next to him, face solemn. His eyes never left Umeko – he knew her smile was fake._

"_I present to you, your new demi-gods!"_

_The two sects had never looked so happy, they all danced around; danced with each other. Hidan watched as Umeko wriggled her way out of the crowd followed by Masumi. She leaned against the wall, her back to him, and Masumi looked like she was trying to convince her to return to the floor._

"_Go to her, if you want to, kid," Nathan mumbled next to him, sitting down on the chair behind him. Hidan stared at him, "but I thought-"_

"_Well, you thought right. No, you can't be with her. But no one ever said you couldn't comfort her if you wanted to. Besides, if anybody else cares, it's their problem," Nathan's yellow eyes flicked to him, "you have a valid reason to comfort her. She was your girlfriend for goodness sake! Now go."_

_Nathan made a shooing motion with his hand and Hidan smiled a quick smile before hopping off the stage and making his way over to Umeko. He touched her shoulder and she turned, then quickly turned back; she had tears streaming down her cheeks._

"_Umeko..." he whispered, his voice strained. She shook slightly, then turned sharply and pressed her face to his chest, gripping the sleeves of his shirt tightly. She sobbed against his chest as she choked out, "I know I should be happy b-but now that I know that I c-c-can't ever s-see you a-again..."_

"_Shh, Umeko, sh," Hidan cooed, wrapping his arms around her, "you'll still see me. Everyday. All the time."_

_She rubbed her face against his chest, sniffling once more before looking up at him and smiling. She took his hand and nodded to the mass of dancing people, "come dance with us, Hidan. Dance with _me_."_

_He smiled back at her, and allowed her to drag him into the throng._

_After two months had passed – Hidan's eighteenth birthday passing also – he decided that he wanted to find the Dove. When he told this to Victor he was startled and slightly disturbed when the old man jumped up and danced around a little._

"_Uh, Victor. What the heck are you dancing about?"_

"_Me? Oh, my dear boy! You're probably..." he counted on his fingers, "the third demi-god to ever want to find a Dove! It pleases me so!"_

_In the corner Nathan chuckled and Victor swirled on him, pointing, "and what of you, old man? Will you look for a Raven then?"_

"_No, not yet. I'd rather wait a while," the other demi-god replied, cracking his knuckles. Hidan sighed and slumped in his chair._

"_And how the heck do we go about looking for them then?"_

"_We? Oh no, dear boy. You won't go looking. Teruo will. Teruo and Isamu. It's strange... Teruo is a strange boy, to us. So quiet yet so amazing powerful. His curse forms I mean. Yes, you heard me right. Curse forms – he has more than one."_

_This information caused Hidan to slump further against his chair, and he quietly asked, "when will she be chosen?"_

"_It depends on who you pick. There will be about thirty candidates, and you will choose for yourself. We do, however, have to approve of your choice."_

_Hidan merely nodded his head, too engrossed by thoughts of how Umeko might act whizzing through his mind._

_A week later and the thirty girls showed up. Teruo quickly strode over to Victor, followed by a very young looking girl. She looked excited; taking in everything around her with interest, running up to some of the Jashinists and then fleeing back to Teruo, giggling, and then running back over to them. This made many laugh._

"_Victor-san. This girl... I don't know what to do with her," Hidan's eyes widened at the sound of Teruo's soft, shy sounding voice. He had never heard him speak before._

_Victor looked around, "which girl?"_

"_... she's clinging to my pant leg, Victor-san," Teruo said, gesturing down toward the floor. All eyes followed, and then looked at Teruo in confusion, "she's just a kid."_

_Teruo sighed, then pulled out the small album of photos he carried, flipping through it while informing them, "she claims she saw me in a dream she had, and that she was supposed to come with me here. She even knew my name."_

_Victor stared at him, Hidan's eyes widening. The immortals and monks had kept themselves well hidden. It was impossible that she would know his name._

_Nathan expertly hopped down from the balcony fifty feet above the main floor. He landed soundly next to Victor, staring down at the girl who looked up at him and said, "you're Nathan."_

_Nathan stared at her, then smirked, "right you are, kid. Now tell me," Victor crouched, "what's your name."_

"_I'm Dove."_

"_... that's your name?"_

"_Well, it's actually Hato, but my mommy told me it means Dove, so I call myself Dove," she giggled and hid behind Teruo's leg. The other girls laughed and giggled, gossiping about how cute the little girl was._

"_Oh yeah? And how old are you, Dove?"_

"_Eleven," she said with a little bit of pride. Hidan couldn't believe his ears. An eleven year old named Dove, who knew who Teruo and Nathan's names without even having met them. He shook his head, letting his eyes drift over the other girls. Women, he corrected himself. Some of them looked like they were older than he was._

_Suddenly he was aware of two small arms encircling around one of his legs, and he looked down to see the little Dove twined around his leg, staring up at him lovingly._

"_You're Hidan," she pressed her face into his leg and blushed, "I love you."_

_Everyone was stunned to silence._

Little Dove... he remembered her. She would be eighteen now... his Dove. His fiancée. He was supposed to be marrying her soon. He willed his body to wake up, and for a moment he did. He blinked, experimentally tugging at his arms. Pain shot through his body, but not as badly as before.

_'I'll stay here a little more,'_ he decided, relaxing, _'I'll reminisce a little more.'_

_Over the course of the next two months, everybody – monks, immortals, the girls ever – were trying to convince Dove to leave. She held stubborn, refusing to leave Hidan's side even. Whenever he sat down she was in his lap. She followed him to his room, lying happily on the bed while he showered and did whatever business he needed doing. She curled up against his side, refusing to sleep in a room alone or with another girl._

_It drew near the time that Hidan needed to choose the Dove, or all the girls had to return home, including Dove. Hidan was leaning against a wall, Dove being clutched tightly by some of the other candidates. The women were yelling at several of the immortals and monks._

"_It's obvious that she loves him! She never leaves his side!"_

"_She's too young! We can't risk that! What if she dies?"_

"_Can't you people make her immortal?!"_

_Hidan's eye twitched. To make a girl as young as Dove immortal would be more likely to kill her than save her. It just wouldn't work. He shifted uncomfortably against the wall, just wanting to get away from them and their arguing._

"_Look, if we make her immortal there's a higher chance that she'll die then live. A ninety-nine percent chance, to be exact. Her body won't be able to handle it!"_

_Hidan released a frustrated growl, before shoving away from the wall and striding angrily out of the main area, toward the back of the temple. He failed to notice that Dove had wriggled free of the womens' grasp, and was dashing after him._

_He strode past the pools on either side of him, glancing only once at the lotus' blossoming on the lily pads. He saw the koi – checkered, black, orange and gold – shimmering just beneath the water in the moonlight. He continued into the forest. Deer poked their heads out at him, hoping to be stroked. He stopped momentarily to stroke a small fawn. It pressed it's head into his hand, making him smile._

"_The animals like you."_

_His violet eyes widened and he turned his head to see Dove there. Shocked, he looked up and past her, to see that a few immortals were hesitating on the steps. He sighed, and outstretched an arm toward Dove. She grinned happily, hopping toward him and wrapping her arms around his neck._

"_You'll be the death of me," he muttered as he stood and walked off, followed by the deer. A buck came to walk next to him, pressing it's side gently against his._

_An hour passed, and Hidan sat down under a tree. He gently placed Dove on the ground; she had fallen asleep._

_He rested against the tree, closing his eyes after the buck that had been walking with him lay down next to Dove, nestling her against its stomach._

_He knew the buck would protect her._

_It wasn't until two hours later that he was wakened by soft hair brushing against his face. There was a shy touch to his lips, then a small breath and another touch. He cracked open an eye to see that Dove was kissing him._

_It occurred to him then that yes, she was the one. She was to be his Dove._

_He 'woke up' when she returned to the buck's side, mumbling, "let's go, Dove."_

_He stood and scooped her up in his arms, then headed back toward the temple._

_He could tell they had been fretting over him and Dove; all of them were on the stairs. They released a collective sigh of relief and Masumi demanded, "where were you? Do you have any idea what we th-"_

"_I have chosen my Dove," Hidan snapped, effectively silencing Masumi. They all stared at him, and Victor cautiously asked, "and who have you chosen?"_

"_She's in my arms. Take the rest home. Tell her mother that she's safe."_

_They were all astonished at his choice, but they prepared to take the women back to their homes. Hidan glanced at Dove, who rubbed her head against his neck before planting a kiss there. He closed his eyes and smiled a small smile._

_'What does she look like now?'_ he wondered. He'd made her immortal a week after he'd picked her. She'd lived through it, seeing as he'd stayed by her side and healed her every waking moment he had, just to keep her alive. Since she was eighteen by now, her body would have gotten older; she would look like a woman now.

He longed to see her again.

--

"This is absolutely ridiculous!" Shikaku exclaimed after reading the note Shikamaru had given him. Shikamaru sighed, "well, that's it. He wants us to meet him on the border of Fire country within the next three hours or he comes here," he looked at his father, "I say we wait for him to come to us. I think it might be a trap to get revenge on me for blowing up Hidan."

It was Shikaku's turn to sigh, "fine, fine. I'll gather everyone up and we'll go to Tsunade's office right now."

Ten minutes later and they were walking toward the Hokage tower, wondering why all the villagers were gathering around. Naruto stopped, much to Shikamaru's chagrin.

"What are you guys staring at?" he asked one of the boys. The boy pointed, his eyes wide with fear. Naruto looked and exclaimed, "holy cow! What the heck _is_ that thing?!"

_'What?'_ Shikamaru looked up and up and up to see a huge black beast clinging to a tall lamp post with all four legs. It released a loud snarl before crawling down the pole. It had no tail and looked to be a large black mass of fur.

It landed on a roof and swiftly made it's way down, jumping from rooftop to rooftop effortlessly. Naruto and Sasuke placed themselves in front of the group, startling a gasp out of Sakura.

The creature charged, snarling and suddenly skidded to a halt, seconds before a katana struck the ground. It's front legs – which stood higher than it's hind legs – moved up and down as the creature breathed heavily.

Shikamaru looked to see where the weapon came from, and saw a man standing on the slope of the Hokage tower, right beneath the windows.

He shot into the air before disappearing and reappearing on the ground, poised for attack and a war hammer in his hands. He lurched forward, navy hair whipping about his face, diluted pink eyes wide for the kill.

He swung as the beast roared, right before there was a sickening thud and the sound of bones breaking. The beast shot backwards, one of it's hind legs twitching in the air. It dissolved to dust moments later.

The man snapped his head to Naruto and Sasuke. The two tensed, hands on their weapons.

"He waits," the man growled, hefting the war hammer onto his shoulder. There was a grating sound to his voice, but otherwise it was a nice sound.

"Who -!?" Shikamaru had no time to finish his question however, as the man sprinted off. Naruto paled and looked to the Hokage tower, "Tsunade-baa-chan."

A collective gasp went up, then all the shinobi headed to the tower, alarmed. They raced up to the office and Shikamaru threw open the door --

-- and stopped dead in his tracks.

Tsunade lay on the floor, alive and breathing but critically injured. She looked tired, her normally bright hazel eyes closed.

To the left of the desk knelt Shizune, her eyes fixed fearfully on the man sitting on the desk corner closest to her. Ton Ton was no where to be seen.

Shikamaru's angry eyes slowly rested on the man, and behind him the others struggled to get in. The man was slowly cleaning blood off of his katana, with a white cloth. Shikamaru took the time to observer him.

His hair was black, and his eyes were obviously electric yellow. He wore a completely black outfit with snippets of gray. The sash around his waist was gray, the wraps on his legs white. He had wraps on his forearms too; his vest had peaked sleeves.

He raised the sword into the air with his right hand, inspecting the blade while explaining, "I walk through the door and she attacks me. I somehow managed to defend myself without killing her."

The way he said it made Shikamaru's blood boil, but before he could say anything intelligent Naruto cruised past him.

"Why you -!"

The katana made a whooshing sound as the man swung it around, poising it listlessly at Shizune's neck, "one more step, and I'll cut her head off."

Naruto froze mid-stride, then carefully set his foot down, leaping back and landing beside Shikamaru. Shikamaru grabbed his arm, "you -"

"Don't be so stubborn as to believe that I would hesitate to kill her. If anything you should know you're looking at a murderer."

Finally they all massed into the room, Sakura intent on making her way to Tsunade to heal her.

"Ah, ah, pinky. No touchy. You touchy I killy," then he laughed, tapping Shizune's throat with his blade. Sakura growled at him, clenching her fist.

"You... you bastard!"

"Why thank you! I take is a compliment, because I am one," he bowed, then looked up and grinned manically.

"I'll stop him," Sasuke whispered to Shikamaru, leaping through the air with.

"Sasuke, no!" Sakura cried. The man had his eyes closed, and Sasuke's katana came down.

It connected with the man's blade. Sasuke flipped back, prepared to charge again and watched in horror as the man swung the weapon up into the air before sweeping it back down, aiming for Shizune's neck. She screeched before ducking, one of her hands flat on the floor while her other hand fisted in her hair.

The blade was raised again and he threw it into her hand. Shizune suppressed a cry of pain as he stepped on it, pushing it completely through her hand.

Sasuke instantly backed off, cursing himself for his failure.

The man hopped of the desk and whipped the blade out of her hand then licked the blood off. Slowly his form changed to one reflective of Hidan's curse form and Shikamaru released a breath of anger.

_'How dare he...'_

"Tsk, tsk. Your friends are very bad listeners. I warn one person and they think it doesn't apply to them as well. Oh, the treachery," he gathered Shizune up in his arms and sat back down on the desk, leaning back and reaching into a drawer. He straightened with a jar of healing balm in his hand.

He unscrewed the lid – Kakashi and the other teachers held their students back – and smeared some in his hand before nicking a kunai over his finger. He let his blood drop into the balm in his hand, proceeding to smear it over Shizune's wound.

He then wiped the excess off on his perfect robes, reaching down to pull the binding off his ankle. He expertly wrapped it around Shizune's hand, then – to their horror – kissed Shizune on the forehead.

"There. All better. My blood has healing properties, so your hand should be better in no time," he set Shizune back on her feet and she looked at him over her shoulder in surprise, a single tear falling from her eye. He wiped it away and gave her a little push.

"You can heal her now. Just make sure she doesn't attack me again. I might end up killing her, and we don't want that to happen now do we?"

Shizune shook her head and hurried to Tsunade. The man swung his head around to look at Shikamaru.

"See, here's the thing. I knew you wouldn't come to the border even if I asked nicely, so I"ve been hanging out in Konoha since yesterday. Anyway, I bet you're dying to know my name," he grinned viciously and chuckled, "I'm Nathan," his expression turned wicked, "demi-god of the Devil Sect."

At those words Shikamaru's hearing died, and he found that he had never ever been more afraid in his entire life of one single person.

* * *

So Nathan reveals to poor little Shikamaru who he is. And awww... did you guys think that Nathan would actually kill Shizune? hee hee.... I leave that to your imagination *wink*. Hope you liked it. More stuffs next chapter, and Hidan gets out of his prison :)


	4. Chapter 4

OH HEY! It's Nathan rant time! I hope you enjoy this... and I hope what Nathan says makes logical sense. Cause honestly, I really don't see how Sasuke can get a second change but Itachi can't... I mean.. yeah. Okay. I'll not go into that xD AND OH HEY LOOK!! SASUKE ISN'T A JERK IN THIS STORY! Oh btw. Ino is officially involved in this chapter. See if you can guess when she officially gets involved.

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Chapter 4: Earth came.

Nathan stared relentlessly at Shikamaru, eyes a deep abyss of insanity, "you seem... less confident than when you first walked in here, kid."

Tsunade's fist almost connected with his face, but his arm snapped up and caught her fist. He grinned at her, black smoke surrounding his hand, "thought I told you to keep her from attacking me, lest I lose it and kill her. I'm not the most stable being, you know. Just 'cause I talk all like I can keep my cool doesn't mean I can."

"You're just laying all your flaws out in front of us," Kakashi commented, a restraining hand on Naruto's shoulder. Nathan smiled a peaceful smile, and let his head drop a little.

"Do you think I'm afraid of you knowing my flaws, kid? Do you think that you knowing my flaws will give you the upper-hand? You're looking at someone who is one, immortal and two, a demi-god. Do you think I'm lying to you?" his yellow eyes blazed brilliantly in the dim light. Clouds were starting to crowd the sky; Tsunade backed off, cursing lightly.

Nathan continued, "I don't care if people know my flaws. I'm an imperfect being and as such I have dutifully accepted this, my only wish being that people can accept me the way I am, flaws and all. I have already openly admitted to you that I'm a murderer, but really, the only crime I can be accused of is murder."

Tenten glared at him, "how do we know you aren't just lying to us? How do we know that you haven't.... that you haven't raped someone before?!"

Lee looked in shock at Tenten's choice of words, and Shikamaru face-palmed. Ino merely stared at Nathan, _'just how old is he?'_

Nathan raised an eyebrow and held up his rosary, "do I look like the type? My religion only promotes killing people on the battlefield, anything less than this is a sin."

"But _why?!_ Why would you kill people on the battlefield? Just for the sake of killing?! Even _we_ keep survivors!" Chouji exclaimed, crossing his arms. Ino smiled at him, pleased, _'probably bagged him with that one.'_

Nathan sighed and hopped off the desk, walking over to the window as he replied softly, "yes, and the people you keep alive are merely healed and then tortured, healed and then tortured, continuing through their life in a never-ending cycle of pain until they give you the information you want. By killing someone on the battlefield they are no longer in pain, and it is custom for us Jashinists to feel the full brunt of the death we have caused by killing ourselves," he glanced back toward the group out of the corner of his eye, "you can never know the pain of others until you experience it fully yourself."

Shikamaru radiated fury; Ino paled.

"Look, you obviously haven't learned anything because you're _still_ here, causing pain!"

"Kid, I'm immortal, what do you expect? I can't die. I've long since forgotten what pain feels like; my body goes numb to it now. My mind goes numb; I can't think anymore," Nathan pressed a hand to the glass, and Ino couldn't take it anymore. She took a step forward and asked, "h-how old are you?"

Nathan turned around fully, inspecting her with calculating eyes. She cowered slightly and repeated her question, "how old are you?"

"Just recently? In my... well... five hundred-twenties?" he tapped his chin thoughtfully, oblivious to the stares of disbelief he was receiving, "yes, most likely five hundred-twenty... twenty-six, I believe."

"F--- Five hundred-twenty-six?" Hinata stuttered, almost falling backwards. Kiba caught her and muttered, "damn, what an old guy..."

"I only look young because I'm immortal. Oh, the joys of being immortal," he laughed, a normal laugh. To Ino's ears it was the saddest sound she had ever heard. His laughter quickly escalated to an unnatural grating sound though, almost like he was hyperventilating as he restated, "the joys of being immortal – young forever, to never grow old."

He gestured to the members of team ten, "what was it like, watching your teacher die?"

Ino closed her eyes tightly and looked away, _'how dare he... what right does he have, asking that question?'_

"Why do you ask?" Shikamaru demanded through clenched teeth. At first Nathan didn't respond – he just closed his yellow eyes, listening. Ino looked outside, seeing that he was listening to the pattering rain. His eyes opened.

"I'm curious. Tell me."

"I hated it. There was nothing I could do. Nothing! You don't know what it's like!"

At this something akin to fury flicked through Nathan's bright eyes and he grinned maliciously, "oh? Is that so? Take a seat; set yourselves on the floor and I'll tell you what."

They all sat down, Ino and Chouji having to yank Shikamaru to the ground - _'I don't understand why he's so stubborn!'_

She looked around, seeing that Kakashi and Yamato were paying keen attention, obviously interested in Nathan. Sai also seemed interested, his eyes fixed to the somewhat furious looking man. If it hadn't been for the grin, Ino would have thought he was furious.

"I'm tellin' ya, of _course_ you couldn't do anything! What would you have done, hm? You were out of chakra right? Couldn't stop him right? What could you do? You're a mortal. Trying to stop him equals death. I know that better than any of you do. I've seen it happen. I've delivered that killing blow; twice.

"I can see that you think by experiencing one death you've felt all the pain you ever will. The only person here who would have any cursed valid reason to feel all the pain he's ever felt is the raven-haired punk sitting over there. Family got killed, wanted revenge, got revenge, wanted _more_ revenge... never-ending cycle of pain."

Sasuke glared at him and growled, "so you've been through more?"

At this Ino grew angry and she snarled back, "what the hell do you think?! He's _five hundred-twenty-six years old_, for goodness sake!"

She bit her lip then, bowing her head, clasping her hands in her lap, _'nice one Ino. Real nice and smooth like.'_

Nathan's voice pierced her thoughts, "hey, I like you. Come stand up here with me; I like that you can think."

She looked up at him, confused, but stood and went all the same. He patted the desk and she hopped onto it, sitting there quietly. Nathan seemed to have calmed and Ino observed, _'he's like a storm, or the weather. So unpredictable. Very moody.'_

"I'll tell you who doesn't know what it's like to lose someone: _you_ don't," he pointed at Shikamaru. Of course, the shadow user and his father looked ready to argue but Nathan held up his hand, "let me finish before you start spitting at me. Look. You're a mortal. What can a mortal do against an immortal, having reached their chakra limit, and that immortal all ready to make the final blow? Tell me. Anybody."

"That mortal can't do anything," Neji replied softly, then adding, "it's against fate."

"Thanks. Alright. Now look at it this way. There's this teenager, see? And he's standing here in the corner, watching his whole entire clan get killed – everybody he's ever loved – and there's nothing he can do."

Nathan seemed to expect to be interrupted because Kiba blurted out, "well, _duh, _one versus like, I dunno, thirty?"

Nathan nodded his head, smiling ever so slightly, "of course, of course. But this kid. He's immortal," he stared at Kiba, challenging, "the people attacking can't do anything to him. They wouldn't be able to stop him. He's immortal. But here's the problem. This kid... he doesn't know how to use any of his techniques without his family members getting caught in it as well," Nathan shook his head from side-to-side, laughing that sad laugh again, "this kid is _immortal_ and _powerful_ and there's _nothing he can do_ but watch his family die. Now you tell me who's felt more pain. The mortal who was limited – by power and by body – to save one person that he loved, or the immortal kid, who has technically no limits – by power and by body – and still can't save the people he loves? Tell me."

This time, it was Shino who answered, "the immortal has obviously felt more pain, loosing everyone while standing by unable to do anything for fear of hurting his loved ones."

"Exactly. What are you giving me crap about not knowing pain? How many loved ones do you think I've seen die, hm? Me, being as powerful as I am, being immortal, and still, only able to stand by and watch as everyone I love withers away and dies around me, as quickly as flowers bloom in the spring and wilt in the fall.

"I've watched people grow old around me... watched the wrinkles gather on their faces. Then I look in the mirror, and I touch my face, and I ask myself why I – a murderous insane man – deserve to look so perfect after everything I've done. What did I do to deserve this?" he touched his face, two fingers dragging down the curve of his sharp chin.

"What did I do to deserve such perfection in looks? Obviously nothing. What I wouldn't give to have been made immortal while in my old age, but I have no such luck, oh no. I was born immortal. Just like Hidan was. Just like most of us were."

He closed his eyes, hand dropping away from his face; the rain increased in volume outside the tower, beating angrily against the glass. Nathan opened his eyes, now a more golden-rod yellow. More molten and less happy and bright; more angry.

"Down to business. Besides for him killing up your teacher, what other valid reason did you have for blowing up Hidan?"

Shikamaru was quick to answer; Ino deduced that Nathan's eyes sudden change in color was to blame for Shikamaru's risen fear.

"He was a member of the Akatsuki. There was still the ongoing mission of finding and taking out the Akatsuki in Fire country, those Akatsuki being Kakuzu and Hidan."

"That ongoing mission being something I regret not closing," Tsunade muttered guiltily. Shizune patted her on the back. Shikamaru glanced at her, then looked to Nathan for approval. The demi-god was not convinced.

"And...? Anything else?"

"Look, he was a member of the Akatsuki and that was reason enough to kill him!"

There was a silence, and Ino silently cheered Shikamaru on, while wondering eagerly what Nathan would say in response to that.

"... so why isn't Sasuke dead?"

--

_'I can move... I can... see... rocks?'_ he shifted a little and suddenly his body shot upwards. It felt so much easier to breathe, his lungs expanding with fresh air as it seeped through the rocks. He was near the top of the grave. The grave that he had apparently dug for himself.

_'How did I... how did I dig this for myself? How the heck did I... how... I can't... I can't remember...'_

He knew who he was, though; he was Hidan, demi-god of the Holy Sect. And yet, his power was only coming back to him now. At least he really needed it now.

"I wonder," he croaked out loud, wanting to laugh at how helpless he sounded, "I wonder if I can contact Dove... Oh, Dove..."

_'Dove, I miss you so much... Can you hear me, Dove? Can you...?'_

He waited in silence, patiently waiting for a response. After about three minutes he decided to try a different approach. He thought his words very clearly, _"Dove? Can you hear me, Dove?"_

Again, there was silence. He sighed, about to give up when he felt a pricking at the back of his mind. He brightened, _"Dove?"_

"_H-Hidan? Hidan!?"_

"_Baby!"_

"_Hidan! Oh my – Oh Jashin – Oh, Hidan!"_

Her happy laughter resounded in his head, and he drank it in, a small smile gracing his lips. She sounded so womanly now. Which reminded him.

"_Happy Birthday."_

She giggled, _"it's a bit late, but I'll accept it. I had a great one. Where are you?"_

Hidan's joyous feeling slowly departed, leaving him filled with sorrow. How much longer did he honestly have to wait till he could see her again? Till he could see any of them again?

"_... I'm in a hole. I think... I got myself into this mess somehow but I can't... I can't remember."_

"_In a hole? You mean like... like..."_

"_A grave?"_ he offered morosely, blinking against dust. He experimentally thrust his hand through the rocks while Dove thought it over. A soft muzzle touched his hand, and for a moment he was lost in memories of the deer from the forests surrounding Yugakure, that followed him wherever he went. However, he soon remembered that he was somewhere near a place called Konoha, and that this deer that was touching its muzzle to his hand could possibly be danger.

He quickly withdrew his hand as Dove responded, _"Ryuu and I will come get you."_

"_Ryuu? Him too – why?"_

"_Hida, hon, he's the only one that can track you even if you give off no signature. You being in a hole, and not remembering how you got in it in the first place... doesn't help me much."_

"_Okay, baby. Come get me. I can't wait to see you again, seriously."_

"_Me too. Me too. We'll leave immediately."_

"_All I know, baby, is that I'm near Konoha. That's it. Hide your rosaries. It'll be a dead give away who you're looking for, seriously. And don't mention me, either. Just say you're like, like, traveling around the countries. And try to keep Ryuu under control."_

She giggled at all his orders, _"alright. We're on our way; Ryuu's pretty excited. See you as soon as I can."_

He smiled, letting the connection drop away. His bliss, however, was short lived, as the sound of stampeding feet was heard overhead.

_'Even the deer are out to get me.'_

--

Nathan's gaze was very challenging, and Ino knew he wanted an explanation. No one was offering any.

"Well? You little kids gonna' give me a reason for Sasuke not being dead?"

"He – he's the last Uchiha!" Sakura offered, looking to Naruto for support. Naruto nodded his head vigorously, "y-yeah. Besides, he... he repented and changed."

Nathan waved his hand dismissively and Ino gave them a what-are-you-thinking expression, her thoughts running wild in her head, _'idiots! That's like, exactly what he wanted you to say! This guy isn't stupid, he just... he just acts like he is.'_

"Oh, right, right. And of course you guys knew him really well right? Nobody wants to kill their best friend!"

Naruto shook his head, Sakura giggling nervously. Kakashi stared, sharingan spinning a little. Nathan didn't even notice the red eye.

"So let me see... if I went and got, say, two genin from... oh I dunno'... Kirigakure? And brought them here, right? Now, would you guys kill them?"

"Of course n-not!" Hinata exclaimed, seeming angered that he'd even suggest they would kill children.

"Oh? Why not? You guys aren't on good terms with Kiri, right? You should just kill them. They're from Kiri. Bad guys."

Shikamaru had the expression of someone who had just gotten rick rolled. And he had. He'd gotten his point for blowing up Hidan thrown right back in his face.

"Yeah, okay, so we should kill them," Kiba agreed. Everyone turned to him, shocked and he continued, "but we don't know anything about them!"

Nathan had the face of a triumphant warrior as Ino face-palmed, "you don't know anything about them."

He looked them all in the faces while repeated, "you don't know anything about them. Oh, wait. You didn't know anything about Deidara, Sasori, Tobi, Zetsu, Kisame, Kakuzu, Nagato or Konan. You didn't know anything about _Itachi_ and he was from your damn village! Oh, and let me ask another thing, why the heck was Itachi condemned to die while Sasuke wasn't? Where the hell is your logic in _that?_

"Hey, I'm not finished," he snarled when Naruto looked like he was going to object, "you don't know half the reason why some of those guys joined the Akatsuki either. You sure as hell don't know anything about Hidan, and don't you _dare_ say he's a heartless killer because you're talking to a guy who's known him for twelve years. Much longer than your pitiful three hours or whatever. Now, I'm not claiming that I know anything about the Akatsuki either, but I do know that Kakuzu was thrown in prison half-alive after risking his life for his village. Why was he thrown in prison? 'Cause he freaking _failed_ his mission to kill your first Hokage. Yeah. That's a great way to be welcomed back, isn't it? Thrown in prison 'cause you _failed_ a lousy mission.

"And I don't give a crap what missions mean to you. They mean nothing to me. I have no village affiliation. My only affiliation is with my religion, which is _dead_ because I killed everybody except for twenty-five other immortals."

Ino interjected, refusing to let her friends embarrass themselves more, "hey, um, Nathan," he turned golden-rod eyes to her, "why did you, well, kill everybody?"

He gave her a far off look, like he was staring through her, "I lost it. Here's the sanity plane," he raised one of his hands, "and here's the insanity plane," his other hand hovered about a foot below the other one. Ino nodded and he continued, moving his lower hand and making an upside-down 'V' to represent legs, "this is me. Now see, I fell off the sanity plane and down to the insanity plane. Problem was," he gave her a sickening grin, "the insanity plane? Couldn't hold me. I just wasn't there anymore. Nathan, wasn't in Nathan's body."

He jerked his head in Shikamaru's general direction, "he knows that. He saw my mind come out of Hidan when he blew him up. My soul," Ino couldn't believe how this guy could just, talk, "has five parts. I'm a very, very screwed up guy, honestly. You should be able to tell. Anyway, I have my mind, my torso, my arms, my legs and them just my soul. I was dumb enough to separate my mind from my body and put it inside Hidan, thus making his personality putrid; more like me."

Ino was very interested now, and she scooted closer to him, "so, you took your mind out of your body and put it in Hidan, screwing him up."

"That's one way of saying it."

She licked her lips, "but that still doesn't explain why you killed... well, I guess everyone in your religion."

He was about to explain, she could tell by the way his eyes turned yellow again, pleased that he had found someone who wanted to learn more about his religion. His body suddenly grew rigid, his ears seeming to flick as he listened to something only he could hear. His eyes darkened again and he stood abruptly.

"I have to go. Think on my words, you idiots. As for you," he took Ino's hand in his and kissed it, making her blush a little, "you are absolutely gorgeous and smart. I like how you can think, girl."

_'There's that odd statement again. Now that just confuses me,'_ she watched as he morphed away with a sick roaring sound, like the sound of angry souls, a black light surrounding him. She stared blankly at the her reflection in the window, when suddenly the Ino in the window became more beautiful, blonde hair flowing loosely around her face and body, her eyes a more brilliant blue. Her own eyes widened, _'w-what?!'_ the image returned to normal as the door to the office flew open.

"Hokage-sama!!"

"Hai!"

"The deer from the Nara forest! They just came stampeding in! They're freaking out about something!"

Everyone quickly departed, Chouji having to drag Ino out of the office. She was still captivated by the unrealistic beauty of the Ino she had seen in the window.

_'What could that possibly mean?'

* * *

_So... did you spot the foreshadowing? ^^ Why yes there is foreshadowing!! Quite a bit, actually!


	5. Chapter 5

Err... Sorry for the late update... Finally should get an update soon, though. Don't worry. It hasn't been the best few weeks for me. Someone in my family recently passed away, that and I kind of had a homework pile up (but that was my own fault. I procrastinate too much heh). But yes. MLMD gets an update. Chapters will probably be a little short for the time being, until people start getting haunted. And after the next chapter you will most likely stop hearing from Hidan and others hee hee.

Songs: "I'm Alive" by Phalanx. Mostly for Dove's techniques. Yar.  
**

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Chapter 5: Faulty Calculations.**

"This way," a gruff voice hissed, the body of a man half transformed into a dragon turning sharply to the left. The young girl behind him followed faithfully, her trust fully in this man before her.

"How much further, Ryuu?" she asked in a delicate, soft voice. He halted, lifting his head into the air and sniffing.

"Not much. I can smell him."

He took off again and she picked up the pace, eager. There was a tingling in her stomach – yes, they were close.

Ryuu came to a skidding halt, his clawed feet making grooves in the earth. Dove almost crashed into him, but expertly twisted on a foot and swirled around him. She steadied herself before seeing what had caused him to stop. There was a mass of deer in front of them.

Dove flipped her hair out with a hand and Ryuu snarled, his lips pulling back over sharp fangs. The deer tensed, ears flicking. Ryuu charged forward, snarling and spitting, lashing out at the deer – though he didn't hit them.

Dove dropped down into the odd hole that was there. She gasped when his power flowed through her. Yes, he was here. As she tried to toss the rocks up and out of the hole, it became apparent that Ryuu was having too much fun chasing the deer around. She huffed, and called, "Ryuu! I could use a hand here! These rocks are heavy."

Immediately he dropped down next to her and wasted no time in getting rid of the rocks, his clawed hands scraping madly at them. He looked like a dog trying to clean up a mess, his black hair flopping down in front of bloody colored eyes. Dove had never really liked his eyes. They were always shifty and wide.

Ryuu's movements stopped suddenly, and Dove looked down to see that he had exposed Hidan's face. She fell to her knees, a hand touching Hidan's forehead tenderly. He opened his eyes – brilliant violet orbs. She blushed at the sight of them.

While Ryuu busied himself with carefully kicking away other rocks, Dove focused on caressing Hidan's face. As soon as one of his arms was free he was touching her face, whispering, "Dove..."

"Sh, you're okay now. We came to get you. We'll be leaving soon."

Hidan frowned, "the deer... the deer will go back and alert Konoha."

This made Ryuu growl angrily – already he didn't like these strange Konoha people. Dove kissed Hidan's forehead.

"I'm afraid I probably won't understand them, hon."

"I don't think you will either, baby. Seriously."

She smiled, glad that he still had that odd word quirk. She'd loved it ever since she was eleven, when she fell in love with him.

Ryuu coughed and Dove looked up, startled to see that he was in his human form. He was holding out his hand, "you have the clothing scroll, right? I mean, really Dove, I know you would like to keep your eyes virgin until you two are married."

Her face turned a deep scarlet and she scrambled to her feet while fumbling with the pouch on her hip. She pulled out a scroll and tossed it to him before leaping out of the hole to wait. When Ryuu and Hidan emerged from the hole, she wrapped her small arms around Hidan's chest, pressing her face against it and breathing deeply.

It smelled like him; like home.

--

Hidan pushed her back so he could look at her. Her long white hair fell down past her waist, shimmering in the light as usual. Her robes were different now to accommodate her new body – which he appreciated greatly. He watched in silent amusement as blush covered her cheeks from having him inspect her.

The sleeves of her robes were made of a stiff material. They weren't very flexible sleeves, but her hands could move freely. The bottom of her robes cut off just at her ankles and only fastened at the waist, where a belt also rested. He placed his hands on her more womanly waist; they fit rather snuggly there.

Dove – as he predicted – stood frozen in place, staring up at him with wide brown eyes.

_'She's so damn cute when she looks at me like that, seriously.'_

She looked so innocent that he was almost afraid to lean down and kiss her, afraid to ruin that lovely innocence. But he leaned down anyway, pressing his lips to hers. She jerked back just a little, her hands hesitantly touching his chest. He decided that her shyness was going to get to him eventually.

He pulled away, sensing that Ryuu had respectfully moved away. Which the dragon-man had. Hidan watched him prowl around the area, on the lookout for any deer.

"Don't kill anything, seriously. I'll have your head," Hidan informed him, tugging Dove to his body, more for support than to hold her. She knew this, and supported him happily.

He took note of the fact that she was wearing a white bathing suit type outfit underneath her robes.

Suddenly Ryuu was by his side, tugging in earnest, breathing out, "they're coming. I can smell those emotionless bastards from here. And those deer."

Hidan did not like the frantic look in Ryuu's eyes.

_'They have something else with them. Something bad.'_

"Ryuu. What do they have with them? You're freaking me out."

The only response that came from Ryuu's lips was, "scars" and Hidan knew he was talking about Nathan. The three made a quick retreat, moments before deer feet could be heard pattering the earth. Hidan thought for a moment that he had heard a dog amidst all the other tapping sounds.

--

Shikamaru cursed; he had seen the white robes disappearing into the trees. He was distracted, however, by the fact that so many rocks lay on the ground, some in shatters. A strange fear gripped at his chest, his hand tightening on the smoky black kunai he held. Sasuke and Kakashi inspected the rocks, Pakkun courageously going on after the Jashinists.

"Looks like they have someone rather tough with them, if you ask me. This could be very bad for us," Kakashi commented, flicking a piece of rock. Sasuke nodded, "these rocks have claw marks on them. Perhaps they have a summoned beast?"

"Highly likely," Shikamaru said through clenched teeth. There was a yelp and the shinobi exchanged glances with their Hokage before surging forward. Pakkun had managed to stop the Jashinists, but he was cornered by a furious looking dragon-man.

Shikamaru stared at him, fear once again gripping his heart.

Horns protruded from the man's skull, fangs in the place of normal teeth, arms and legs scaled and clawed. He was in a hunched position, prepared to strike. There was even saliva dripping down from his mouth. Shikamaru swallowed.

"Pakkun. Pakkun, come on," Kakashi said, eyes darting between dragon-man and dog. The dog shook his head and the dragon-man snapped his jaws, a snarl emanating from his mouth.

Naruto growled and took a step forward, his pupils turning to slits. The dragon-man turned his attention to Naruto and growled back, taking a threatening step toward them. Shikamaru watched in surprised as Hidan lifted a hand. The girl next to him stopped his movement.

Shikamaru blinked, and looked the girl over.

She was a pretty young thing, with long cascading hair and gentle brown eyes. She caught him staring and tensed, her arms wrapping around Hidan protectively.

_'Ah. So she'll protect him. That's rather troublesome.'_

He turned his attention back to Naruto and the dragon-man.

"Back off teme. He's just a dog!" and Naruto growled again. The dragon-man jumped at him, making Naruto yelp and stumble back. Hidan almost lunged forward but again the girl held him back. He had closed his eyes in pain.

The dragon-man crouched over Naruto, growling in his face before backing off. Pakkun had already swiftly returned to Kakashi, a very frightened dog. Naruto scrambled to his feet, clearly afraid.

Shikamaru exposed the weapon and the dragon-man whirled, lunged, and clipped Shikamaru with a claw. The shadow-user gasped, eyes wide. The dragon-man was lifting his claw to his lips and suddenly, "Ryuu! No, Ryuu! Don't!"

Ryuu froze. He lowered his clawed hand and wiped the blood off on the ground, glaring at Shikamaru the whole time as if to say "you're lucky he's here, because if he wasn't, I would kill you". Shikamaru wiped the blood from his cheek and glared back at Ryuu.

"Stop glaring at me," he snarled in a grating voice, making several shinobi jump, "it's making it rather difficult for me not to attack you."

"Ryuu you won't flipping touch him and that's _final_, seriously."

The response was a low growl – apparently Ryuu did not like the choice Hidan was making.

"Hidan..." he pressed a finger to the girl's lips muttering, "I know, Dove. I know."

Shikamaru pointed the weapon at Ryuu and taunted, "aren't you scared?"

His threat got a very, very strange response.

Ryuu sucked in a deep breath. For a moment the whole forest was silent. Then, he released a horrifying roar, arms going back, fangs fully bared. After he finished roaring, leaving many of the ANBU present shaking, he snarled, "_that_ answer your question, pitiful mortal?"

Shikamaru could only nod his head, realizing that this weapon would never strike fear into the hearts of these immortals.

_'Well, it was worth a try, I guess... gee, he can roar.'_

Ryuu glanced over his shoulder at Hidan and Shikamaru watched as Hidan's eyes went wide, his head shaking violently.

The dragon-man advanced forward, proving that he wasn't afraid of the weapon. Shikamaru took a step back, and Ryuu lunged, Hidan yelling at him to stop.

Blonde hair whipped Shikamaru in the face and his eyes widened. For a split second he thought that Ryuu was going to hit her.

However, the dragon-man stopped dead, claws an inch from Ino's throat.

"P-please d-don't. Please... g-go back o-over there, p-please," she begged, reaching out, her fingers shaking, to touch Ryuu's head. Her fingers had only grazed a strand of his hair when he straightened abruptly, reverting back to his human form.

He retreated back to Hidan's side and Ino collapsed, terrified. Shikamaru didn't like the way Hidan was staring at her.

The sound of singing wind reached his ears and all turned to see Naruto pumping up for his technique.

"Naruto! Naruto, no!" Tsunade shrieked, lunging for him. However, Naruto jumped out of her reach, eyes intent on the immortals.

--

The sense to protect surged through her like a raging maelstrom. Her heart beat escalated and she rose from her position next to Hidan, dashing forward.

White light engulfed her – _the Dove was destructive when the demi-god was threatened._ She stopped short, her arms coming up in a defensive stance, and she cried, "_Forbidden Art: The Dove's Shield!"_

Naruto's technique connected solidly with her shield, cracking it. She wasted not a moment, raising a finger. A halo of light burst around it before a line shone straight through Naruto's right shoulder.

"_Cutting rays,"_ she muttered, jabbing at Naruto. He yelped in pain, his attack ceasing as he fell to the ground. Dove dropped her shield, summoning her scythe to her and glaring angrily at Naruto. She was oblivious to the stares of disbelief she was receiving from the Konoha shinobi. She only felt Hidan's loving gaze at her back.

--

"Hurry up! What the hell is wrong with you kids?! _Damn it!_"

Nathan fell in step next to Tatsuya, the only member of their little coven that could track down Ryuu – his counterpart. They had just sensed that Dove had used her shield and it put all of them on edge. Umeko came up on Nathan's left and he handed her a vial of his blood.

"Get there before us. Save them if you can. If you can't... I'll kill them all."

She nodded and drank the blood, entering her curse form and dispersing into a million plum blossoms. Behind them someone used a weak wind technique, giving her guidance. The Raven latched onto Nathan's arm and he helped her onto his back. She clung to him with all her might, and he could sense that his fiancée was worried to death.

He was affected by her fear and he pressed forward, the others from the Devil Sect also feeling his fear and breaking away. The Four Star Points passed them by, Ephraim and Emeniah galloping on ahead – Emeniah on all fours and Ephraim on his long, bony legs.

_'Please, don't let us be too late. Please. Please.'

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed. Yes, Dove is that strong when she has to protect her Hidan ^^. Rawr! I go to sleeping now.


	6. Chapter 6

The saddest chapter so far.

Song: "Sadness and Sorrow" Naruto OST.  
**

* * *

Chapter 6: Her only crime.**

"Dove... Dove, stand down, seriously."

Shikamaru watched as she glanced back at him. She seemed shocked, but she backed off anyway. Ryuu was strangely restless as he was pacing around on all fours, glancing up every once in a while. Hidan was whispering in Dove's ear and her expression brightened. Ryuu helped him to his feet.

"Look... I have no idea why you're so pissed off at me, seriously. I really don't," he moved his head in Ino's direction, "the only person I flippin' recognize is _her_. I don't know who the rest of you are. Just let us leave."

Shikamaru twitched as the three turned around and started walking away, _'liar. You know who I am. You have to know!'_

In his rage – and while everyone else was busy trying to hold Naruto down – he threw the weapon at Hidan's back. If it hit, Hidan was dead.

And his sensei was avenged.

--

Time seemed to slow down; it was one of those moments when something horrible was about to happen. Hidan started turning his body just as that deer boy's hand left the hilt of the weapon. The only weapon that could ever kill him.

Hidan tried to turn, to protect himself because he could, but he had failed to remember that Dove was walking next to Ryuu, who was supporting him. He failed to remember that the Dove would do anything to save the demi-god, even if it meant she would die.

All eyes went wide, a dainty hand touching his shoulder in distraught apology and from the side Hidan heard Carius cry out, _"DO-OOVE! NO!"_

The weapon thudded loudly in Dove's chest, and stayed there as she fell backwards, blood streaming from her mouth. Ryuu released Hidan and shrieked. Two pairs of arms grabbed him to keep him at bay as he struggled and spat and snarled.

Hidan of course, caught Dove before the hit the ground, staring at her in disbelief. His knees touched the soft earth and he cradled her in his arms. She was making efforts to breathe, her gasps long and labored. She turned her brown eyes to Hidan's face and slowly raised a shaking hand to stroke his cheek. He smoothed back her hair, pulling her up more to rest on his thighs, her head against his chest. Smoke still rose from her chest in thick waves, wrapping around Hidan's hand when he reached for the weapon.

His hand closed around it and a searing pain shot through his body. The only weapon that would ever be able to kill him and he ripped it out of her chest and tossed it to the side, his hand pink and black where he had been burned.

Hidan placed his hand back on her burned and bleeding chest, trying to remember how to use his healing ability. He succeeded only in healing himself. He blinked back tears, remembering in agony that '_once the Dove is injured to such a degree as close enough to death, she will not be able to be healed'._

So there was nothing Hidan could do to save her, yet he pressed his hand to the wound anyway, praying that maybe, as a demi-god, he could reverse that rule and heal her. Her lips started quivering and her eyes rolled around, but they found him again.

"Dove?" he whispered, staring at her. She was trying to speak, the only sound coming out of her mouth being high pitched squeaks. He lowered his head and again whispered, "Dove?"

Her fingers twitched on his cheek, and he heard her say, "I... l-love... y-you...."

His breaths started hitching and he whispered back, "I love you, too."

Then her head fell back and her eyes became vacated, her mouth dropping open allowing rivers of blood to flow down her body.

Hidan stared at her face as she died, her eyes staring off at something that wasn't there. It was at about that time that Carius burst into wracking sobs, the sound coming from his mouth something shinobi wouldn't hear on a regular basis; not even at a funeral.

"_Do-oove! _Oh, Dove..." his twin, Kairius, dropped down to his knees next to the weeping brother - Hidan could sense that.

"C-Carius it's alright. Hush, now. Carius stop it," the begging did nothing to quell the cries of anguish from the other.

_'Talk to me, damn it Dove. Talk to me!'_ Hidan would've said it out loud but though his mind was denying that she was dead his heart knew it was true. She would never be coming back.

He brought a hand up to drag it down her eyelids and close them - he would never see those eyes again. He would never see her smile again, never see her blush. None of it. He would have none of it ever again.

He dropped his head down onto her neck, still warm, and draped his arms around her, one of his hands grabbing her left hand, feeling the engagement ring on her ring finger. It seemed that every time he tried to do something right it went horribly wrong, _'I was supposed to get married to you. We were supposed to get married.'_

Hidan squeezed his eyes shut against the flood building up in his eyes, but not even flood gates would be able to stop his tears. He let himself cry against her neck.

--

Ino clutched a hand tightly to her chest, wincing at the heart-broken sobs that wracked Hidan's frame. She saw Nathan standing off to the far right, leaning against a tree, muttering something. The young girl next to him walked away very stiffly; nobody followed her.

There were nine other men standing close to Nathan, all of their eyes darting between Dove and the group behind her. Two of them, however, she couldn't really classify as men. They looked more like animals.

Ryuu – _'that poor man!'_ - had finally collapsed on the ground, sobbing quietly. In fact, as she looked more closely, she could see that everyone who was wearing white was crying.

_'The... the Holy Sect?'_ she wondered to herself. Ino took a shaky step back; the cries were too much. They were so tormented sounding, like Dove had been a part of all of them and now she was dead.

Shikamaru must have known that if he threw the weapon, the girl would get in the way. She elbowed him sharply and he jumped, turning his head to look at her.

"You knew she would do that didn't you?" she hissed quietly. His eyes went wide and he was about to argue when he thought better of it and looked away instead. Fury curdled in her veins.

"Why did you do that? Why? Why?" she yanked on his sleeve. He didn't reply and instead slapped her hand away.

Suddenly one of the shorter boys near Hidan whizzed forward, his hand clamping over Shikamaru's wrist. Ino's eyes widened as he bent it in a direction it shouldn't be able to bend. The bone made a loud snapping sound and Shikamaru closed his eyes tightly, stifling his cry of pain. The look in the boy's eyes was hard.

"You should treat women better, you scum."

Ino reached for the boy's hand and drew back, instead asking, "who are you?"

He looked at her with lachrymose sleepy eyes, "Chiasa."

He returned to Hidan's side, taking his place next to a taller, cloaked figure. Nathan's snarling voice was heard a moment later.

"You will pay. You will pay for killing her. I'll make sure you _pay!"_

He shot forward, many voices crying out to him. His fist severed the ground right in front of Shikamaru, making him fall and hit his broken wrist against the ground. He winced in pain staring fearfully up at Nathan.

"Don't bother," said a giggly voice, "I already killed. Mm, blood."

Ino looked up to see that he young girl had returned. Behind her she dragged a stag. It was mutilated beyond belief as she brought it forward, Nathan stroking her head and saying "good girl" in a very proud voice. She presented the buck and said again in her giggly voice, "I pretended it was you. Made it so much – hee hee – easier to kill."

Ino gagged as did several other shinobi. The deer's neck had a huge slit, its belly ripped open, innards hanging out. Already there were insects taking home in the deer.

Ino now felt bile rising in her throat as a worm like bug crawled out of the deer's eyes, _'don't barf, Ino, don't barf. Oh Kami it's so disgusting... ooh...'_

Hidan was there then, his hand closing around one of the buck's horns. In a swift move he had picked it up off the ground and flung it ruthlessly to the left. Ino's stomach calmed but she stared at him. His shoulders were still shaking. Next to her Shikamaru had stood, and Nathan had backed off with the girl in tow.

When Hidan raised his head Ino felt tears prick at her eyes. His eyes were so bright, cleared by the tears. She let one tear run down her cheek before quickly raising a hand to wipe it away. She tried to control her emotions.

To Shikamaru, Hidan spoke, "the only crime Dove _ever_ committed, was loving _me._"

Then he was gone in a flash of light. The girl with long flowing black hair picked up Dove and accepted a vial of what appeared to be blood from one of the men standing next to her. She drank it, and entered a stunning curse form, not at all what Ino had imagined.

Her robes changed to become decorated with plum blossoms. She took a shuddering breath and burst into petals, the girl in her arms also bursting. Everyone the petals touched dispersed, until a boy with eyes so frightening similar to Hidan's was left, along with Nathan and the cloaked figure.

The bright violet eyed boy took a step forward, "I'm Asa. I'm Hidan's younger brother," he threatened to throw an orb of light as Shikamaru when he tried to speak, "you better keep your trap shut, or I'll shove this done your throat and watch you writhe in pain!"

Shikamaru closed his mouth. Asa continued, "I suppose we should tell you that because you have killed the Dove, there must be a new one, or Hidan will die of grief. We are not about to let Hidan die. You, therefore, have successfully nominated three of the women standing here as candidates to become the next Dove. Congratulations!" the sarcastic tone in his voice was anything but congratulating.

"And we _won't_ tell you who. But know this: in about two weeks time, there will be thirty girls picked throughout this shinobi world as candidates. One of them will be from your village. It you try to keep us from taking her," he glanced at Nathan, "you will be killed. No questions asked."

As the three turned to leave, Asa left one last warning, "be prepared."

They shot off like rockets. Ino, unable to contain herself anymore, turned sharply. Her hand connected solidly with Shikamaru's cheek.

* * *

Yes. Dove dies. Beware the Ino-haunting chapters to come. Will probably finish in four chapters (two chapters for every one week). And yes, Hidan doesn't know who they are. Nathan tells him later and he remembers. Don't worry.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for such a late update. VAMP and other stories... I'll try to update them soon. I finally got an inspiration strike for this one and... well, I've been on a little bit of a writer's block. I've been drawing a lot. Yeah. So yes, again, sorry for my late updates this week. "Finally" is going to be updated last of all my multi-chapter stories.

Consternation: sudden dread or paralyzing terror (dictionary . com)  
**

* * *

Chapter 7: Consternation**.

Shikamaru held his uninjured hand to his stinging cheek. Ino glared at him, blue eyes blazing. Where her sudden fury had come from she had no idea.

"Don't even ask. You deserved that," Ino hissed before stomping her way back to the village. Shuffling feet were heard a few minutes later.

--

Ino stayed inside her room, refusing to even leave for supper. Her mother was worried sick.

"Ino! Shikamaru's here! He'd really like to talk to you, sweetie!"

Ino snorted and yelled back, "I don't want to see him. Tell him to go _away_."

There was a silence from downstairs and Ino relaxed in her window. She was perched on the ledge, resting her head against the cool glass. She released a breath as she opened her eyes.

She couldn't believe what she saw.

Sitting across from her was a man in a cloak that exposed his chest. A comforting yet repelling aura rolled off him in waves. Ino's voice was stuck in her throat. He didn't move at all; he just stared at her from underneath his hood.

Then his hand twitched. Ino jumped and set her hands firmly on the wide sill of the window. Her breathing escalated.

"W-who are you?" she croaked, finding her voice. He remained silent, instead tilting his head slowly to one side. The lights flashed; Ino's vision seemed to jerk around. She saw faces – bloody, terror-filled faces. Blood splattered on her window and the lights wouldn't stop flashing around her. She tried to scream, but her voice was lost.

Ino tried to distance herself from him and when she tried to get off the sill and flee her room she saw a very grotesque monster prowling her room. It lunged threateningly at her, wide jaws snapping in the air, saliva running down its chin in waterfalls. She swallowed; her throat was very dry.

Suddenly the lights went completely out. Ino closed her eyes tightly, a single tear leaking out of her eye. A warm breath was released against her face. Unwillingly her eyes shot open.

She blinked.

_'What...? But just a second ago... I thought...'_ she looked around in shock. Her room was empty of people save for her. The disgusting beast was gone. There was no saliva on the carpet, no blood on her window, no people screaming for their lives. She raised a hand to hold her head.

_'I must be tired. I'm going to bed.'_

Half an hour later and she was crawling under her covers. Right before she fell asleep she felt as though another body had settled next to her.

A hand rose to gently to caress her face.

--

Ino awoke feeling very refreshed. She stretched in her bed and sighed blissfully before planting her hands back against the sheets. Her right hand touched a warm indent. She froze.

_'What...? Impossible!'_

She felt all along the indent with her hands. Whoever else had also occupied her bed had only recently left.

"No wonder I was so comfortable last night... that sturdy for at my back," she breathed in sharply. It just couldn't be. Everything else she had seen the previous night had been an illusion. Surely this was an illusion too?

She made the appropriate hand seal and whispered, "release."

The indent did not go away.

She left the room in a disoriented daze, all the while feeling like someone was following her. When she entered the dining room no one was awake. She found a note on the table.

"It's just like my parents to leave me alone... oh well, I'll read this," she scooped it up and moved away from the table. There was a light breeze in the house.

Ino rolled her eyes after she finished reading the note – her parents would be home late – and turned around to make her way back over to the table. She shivered when a cooler breeze rushed past her.

_'Wait... none of the... windows... are... open...?'_ she focused her eyes on the table.

It was completely set with a full breakfast meal, topped with orange juice and a little pudding dessert to the side. She slammed herself against the wall immediately, breathing rapidly.

"Who -"

There was a soft touch to her lips and a voice whispered, "Ino..."

She ran out of the dining room as the voice called to her again, "Ino..."

"N-no! G-go away!" she wailed, coming to a dead end. She turned around, pressing her back firmly against the wall. To her horror, at the other end of the hall was a monstrosity of a beast. It was bigger than the one from last night, uglier and looked like it had just come out of an oil fill. Warm tears streamed down Ino's cheeks as it snapped it's jaws in the air and began padding toward her – while shaking the house.

"P-please n-no l-leave me alone..." Ino waved her hands at the beast and the flaps on its head seemed to rise as if trying to hear her. Its "ears" looked like rags.

Soon the beast was no more than four feet away from her and Ino began hyperventilating. The monster took a step back and bit at the air, making a light snapping sound. It took another step back.

Warmth enveloped her and Ino clung to the invisible arms around her.

"He merely wishes to escort you back to breakfast... he won't hurt you... a punishment worse then death will... present itself to him if he so much as gives you a rash."

The deep, wispy echoing voice soothed her and she wiped away her tears, dropping the note. She reached a shaking hand toward the beast and it lowered its head, allowing her to pet it.

As soon as she did it turned into a beautiful white husky, blue-eyes and all. She allowed the beast-gone-dog to lead her back to her most extravagant breakfast.

The day passed by with no events, as Ino refused to leave her home. Instead she rested on the bed with the husky – whom she'd nick-named Snow – waiting for her parents to come home.

It was nearly dinnertime and still her parents had not returned. She sighed and got off of Snow, who started at the sudden loss of weight resting against his side. He yelped quietly and followed her out of the room, wagging his mighty tail.

When she entered the dining room she was stunned to see that the cloaked man had returned. Candles floated in the room; the table was set, roses in the middle, petals everywhere. A fine maroon silk cloth over the table. Snow nudged her forward and she took her place across from the man.

He didn't speak when he gestured toward the food.

_'D-don't be nervous Ino, just eat the food. Focus on eating the food,'_ she popped the first bite into her mouth. She struggled to contain herself at the taste of the meat. It was steak, and done perfectly. Just the way she liked it.

She continued eating her meal in glee, savoring the mashed potatoes and the gravy, the sparkling mango juice – in an intricate wine glass none the less – the steak and lastly the pie.

Ino couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in question at the man across from her, who seemed to know everything she liked. The pie was blueberry, and Ino loved blueberry pie. He laughed lightly at her expression.

Once she finished her last bite of pie she wiped at her mouth with the silk napkin.

_'Now to ask him a few questions...'_

Just as Ino was about to, however, Snow perked up and snapped his head toward the door. He got up – tail wagging – and scampered over to the front door. The room began flickering.

"Your parents are home... I have to leave..." he turned his head to the side. Ino closed her eyes in somewhat of a rage and when she opened them she nearly screamed.

The room was empty of all extravagances.

"Ino, what's the meaning of this dog? Not to say that I don't like him, I just want to know where you got him..."

She whipped around after standing, "ah! Well, I went out for a short walk this morning and he followed me home. He was too gorgeous to leave outside."

"I see. Have you named him?" her mother asked, stroking the husky. Ino nodded, "I call him Snow. 'Cause he's white."

Ino proceeded to leave the room after giving her parents hugs. Snow trailed after her.

"I-Ino! Where are you going?"

"To bed."

"What about dinner?!"

"I've eaten already thank you. Good night!"

Ino took ten minutes to get ready for bed. She lay down on her blankets and sighed.

Suddenly Snow started licking her hand and he whimpered. She gave him a curious look before he gave her a dog smile and informed her in a raspy voice, "Sssssoorrrry. I haave to returrrrn to my ooother fooormmmah."

Ino bit her lip and buried her head in the pillow, "okay."

She was awakened later at midnight by low growls in her room. Low growls that were soon accompanied by voices. She heard a deafening scream in her room and muffled her own against her pillow. Claws touched her back but they were whisked away again.

Ino wanted to reach out to her sides to grasp something, _anything._

"Please come back... please, please. I need you. Oh Kami... please where are you? Where...? Oh Kami, make it stop, make it stop!" she screamed into the pillow.

Ino didn't stop screaming until comforting words flowed into her ear from her savior, and she immediately curled up against him, her lips pressed to his neck.

The sounds died away to the night.

* * *

Yeeeeeees Ino's hauntings have officially started.


	8. Chapter 8

One of the strangest chapters to date. Sorry if it's a bit confusing - it all works out, in the end.

* * *

Chapter 8: Awakening.

Ino attempted to open her eyes as her alarm roared but they remained closed. Her body felt extremely heavy and warm. She tried to open her eyes again, but to no avail.

_'What's going on? Why can't I – UH!'_

A tongue lapped at her face and her eyes shot open to find that Snow was what was making her body heavy and warm. She laughed.

"Snow! What are you doing, you silly dog? Get off of me! I need to get out of bed!"

Snow barked happily and rose, shaking out his shaggy fur. Ino stroked his nose lovingly before stretched her hands high above her head. She hopped out of bed and nearly danced over to her wardrobe. Snow stuck himself to her side, making her giggle.

Five minutes later and she was dressed in a simple pair of blue jeans and an orange shirt that had ties at the front. She did her hair up as usual, leaving her fringe down. She slipped on a pair of white slip-ons and proceeded out of her room. Snow jogged ahead of her and pranced around the door. Ino laughed, "let me eat first, Snow, then we can go for a walk."

The husky yipped quietly as Ino ate her cereal.

--

She was unaware of him as she exited her home with the Underworld Beast by her side. Snow, she had called it; he remembered.

His duty was to lead her to the tombstone, to guide her to the necklace of his sect. He stood from his perch on a roof and jumped down, startling by standers. Of course he had just made himself visible, so he wasn't surprised to see them so shocked at his existence.

He beckoned to Snow silently, with his eyes, and the beast nudged Ino forward. At first she was unsure of whether or not to go where the dog wanted her to, but after resting her eyes on him she went. To have her blue eyes rested on him in such a way, the cloaked Jashinist felt nervous. He was usually like that around women.

He led her to the cemetery, where her sensei's tomb was. He leapt gracefully over it, resting his hands on either side of the silver necklace atop the stone. She stared at him and he gestured toward the necklace.

--

"Ino..."

The man before her had Hidan's voice. So low, so perfect, so charming... _'since when did _I_ start thinking about him like that?!'_

She took a step back but Snow nudged her forward.

"Snow..." Ino pleaded, trying to back away again. Snow stubbornly stayed in his place, refusing to let her escape the presence of this man. After an encouraging bark from the husky at her side, Ino took a shaky step forward. Then another. And then another. And a last one that brought her to a stop right in front of the tomb.

She reached out to skim her fingers over the tear-shaped stone of the necklace, and instantly she felt compelled to take it. Ino picked up the necklace to put it around her neck, flicking her hair out of the way.

"Let me."

Ino froze at the sound of the deep voice from behind her, and yet in front of her the man stood, still behind the tombstone, unmoving. Deft fingers easily attached the necklace around her neck. The warmth of the body behind her did not leave. Ino experimentally stepped back. Her body straightened against the firm chest behind her as the man placed a hand against her stomach. She was so confused.

_'Who's behind me? Why's this cloaked man touching my stomach? Where's Snow?'_

Curious at her own last question she asked, "Snow?"

A tongue lapped at her hand and Ino opened her eyes, unaware that she had closed them. She sat up and blinked at her surroundings before her eyes widened unnaturally. She was sitting on her bed, in her own room. The mirror across from her held her reflection and Ino stared in disbelief. She grabbed the necklace around her neck and asked, "how...?"

She glanced at her clock and a second later her alarm went off.

--

"_Do you love me, Hidan?"_

"_Isn't it a bit early for that?" he laughed out in reply. The girl next to him giggled happily, her doe brown eyes making him melt on the inside. For such a girl to do him what only Umeko had been able to achieve was impressive. Dove looked nothing like his mother._

_His mother... he remembered her. Black hair and eyes like quartz. He missed her._

_Hidan's sigh gave away his mood to his fiancée. She tilted her head at him, "Hidan?"_

"_Hm?"_

"_What are you thinking about?"_

"_Nothing important."_

"_You're lying," she chided, her expression serious. He sighed again, releasing a short laugh, "how would you know?"_

"_I know you well enough. You _are_ going to be my husband, you know."_

_He blushed at the thought. She spoke of it so easily, and somehow it was difficult for him to imagine. Maybe it was because she was too innocent, that it was hard for him to imagine them getting married. She rested her palm on his cheek, shifting on her legs next to him._

"_Why can't we just get married now?"_

"_Besides the fact that it's against the law and the ideals of a proper marriage?"_

_Dove sighed and pouted at him; he pecked her nose. That look was just too cute to resist. Hidan gave her a bit of a scowl though. She should have known he would say that; she was still a minor, after all. Only fifteen years old._

"_It's not like we're getting married in a big church or anything..."_

"_Dove. Have you forgotten that you _still_ look like you're eleven?"_

_She released a cry and bounded away from his side. She entered the bathroom and shut the door. Hidan started laughing._

"_It's not funny! I thought I told you not to remind me!" came her muffled complaint._

"_If I don't remind you, who will?"_

_She appeared in front of him, already exercising her abilities as the Dove. She glared at him and made a few seals. Hidan's eyes widened and he started to get up, "Dove, what are you -?!"_

_She pushed him back down with a much more feminine hand. He stared at it before looking up at her and blushing. She'd aged her body to make it look like she was at least sixteen. He swallowed nervously and looked for an escape._

"_So uh, where'd you learn that?"_

"_Nathan taught me."_

_'Oh gawds, her voice... knock me out freaking _now_.'_

_He suppressed a whimper as she straddled his thighs, pinning him to the couch._

"_I want my kiss. I want it _now_," she demanded. He stared at her as she threaded her fingers through his hair. He let his eyes close and felt her lips come down eagerly on his._

Most normal people would consider that a dream. However, Hidan bolted up with a start and a gasp, his breathing ragged. He would've considered it a dream... _if_ the girl in it, wasn't dead.

He pressed a hand to his forehead and massaged his temple while willing the now painful memories of Dove to go away. They were stubborn, however, and insisted to remind him of her soft white tresses, her warm brown eyes, her -

"Umeko," he muttered and instantly a whirl of plum blossom petals were in his room. As she took her physical form Umeko rested a pearly hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to gaze into her brilliant sapphire eyes. They were slanted back with worry, "what's wrong?"

"I can't stop thinking about her..."

Umeko's pearly skin faded away to peach as she flopped elegantly onto the bed; she lay on her stomach next to him. She crossed her arms and rested her chin on her forearms while saying, "I don't know what you can do. Talk to Raphael, or Teruo... whenever he gets back."

"I told him to stay as close to the candidates as possible; he'll be traveling frequently."

Umeko frowned and tapped his cheek with two fingers, "what's this? No swearing?"

"Yume, I don't swear when I'm upset and sober."

Her frown deepened, "don't say that, Hidan."

He fixed his violet eyes on her, _'don't say what? Don't call you Yume or don't say I don't swear when I'm upset and sober?'_

Her hand dropped away from his cheek and she hid her eyes, "you shouldn't call me Yume..."

Hidan stared at her sadly, "I'm sorry. I'm fucking sorry for everything."

She buried her face in her arms and then jumped up and threw her arms around him, "it's not your fault that you're the only one that can control Nathan. I'd rather lose the chance to be with you than to lose you."

Hidan hugged her back, relishing in her warmth. His thoughts, however, strayed once more.

And to his shock, instead of straying to Dove, they strayed to a certain blonde medic.

* * *

Yes. A little bit on what's going on with Hidan right now, the poor boy *pets him*. The question is though, is he thinking of Ino or is he thinking of Tsunade?


	9. Chapter 9

The freaky-ness continues.

Song: "Pale" by Within Temptation. Listen to it now. It's a gorgeous song; probably my favorite from the band.  
**

* * *

Chapter 9: Pale.**

Ino fingered her necklace. When it was in the light it glinted a very strange color – though it was a white stone, it glinted purple.

_'More like a magenta purple... like _his_ eyes...'_

A sense of floating came over her, and Snow took her hand.

--

"Sh-Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru looked up, "what is it?"

"Ino just walked out of the village with that huge white husky! It's taking her somewhere!"

Shikamaru jumped up and took off, followed by Chouji and Kotetsu. However, Izumo had reported to Tsunade, and she stopped them, "where are you going?!"

"After Ino!"

"You should wait for my orders! Why do you look so terrified?"

A bead of sweat trickled down Shikamaru's temple. How could he explain it to her? Didn't she remember?

"_I suppose we should tell you that because you have killed the Dove, there must be a new one, or Hidan will die of grief. We are not about to let Hidan die. You, therefore, have successfully nominated three of the women standing here as candidates to become the next Dove. Congratulations!" the sarcastic tone in his voice was anything but congratulating._

"_And we won't tell you who. But know this: in about two weeks time, there will be thirty girls picked throughout this shinobi world as candidates. One of them will be from your village. It you try to keep us from taking her," he glanced at Nathan, "you will be killed. No questions asked."_

Shikamaru remembered that pretty well; Hidan's little brother, Asa. The threat. He couldn't let it be Ino.

_'But there were supposed to be three.'_

A short meeting took place, and it was decided that the rookie nine would go – minus Ino.

They hurried in the direction she had gone, and found she hadn't gone very far. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, "thank god."

She rested a hand on Ino's shoulder, "Ino, let's go back to the village."

Suddenly, Ino shrieked and whirled around, slapping Sakura's hand away. Shikamaru stared at her face. She looked terrified. He took a step forward, "Ino...?"

Upon seeing him she stumbled backwards, lower lip quivering, fear etched into her face. She scampered over to Snow, who snarled at them, and clambered onto his back. The husky shot off.

"Ino!" Kiba cried, going after them on Akamaru. The rest of the team followed, calling out Ino's name. Shikamaru felt as though a kunai was being thrust into his heart every time Ino looked back at them, her blue eyes wide and frightened. She was afraid of them.

_'Why is she afraid of us? Why?'_

Up ahead the forest suddenly turned a blue like color, with white fairy looking orbs flying around. Ino instantly calmed, and Snow slowed to a walk.

She slid off Snow's back and he slunk away. As he moved it was revealed that Ino wasn't alone here. There were at least twenty-five other girls in the area.

"When was this clearing here?" Naruto asked in a hushed tone. Shikamaru shrugged; Sai observed the scene with a keen eye.

Ino walked toward the girls and one of them approached her. They began talking in hushed voices, and several girls looked at the Konoha group with fright. Ino waved her hand dismissively, as if to tell the girls that the group wouldn't come any closer. A macaw flitted off of one of the girls' shoulders and perched on a tree branch near Hinata. She looked unnerved by its presence.

"I d-don't like this bird... there's something o-off about it," she stuttered out, flinching away from the animal. Shikamaru shook his head; he was picking up a ton of strange chakra signatures.

A figure in a cloak appeared then. He regarded the Konoha shinobi then turned to the girls. How they relaxed in the presence of an unidentified man Shikamaru didn't know, but they did. All the girls relaxed; some giggled. Ino tilted her head at him, and clutched something that was around her neck.

The man made a sweeping gesture, causing a bright flash of light. After the blinding light faded and sight returned to the Konoha shinobi, they stared.

"What the -? I've never heard of an ability to change outfits instantaneously!" Sasuke exclaimed quietly. Shikamaru also stared. All the girls were wearing white.

_'White - ? Wait... white. White is the color of the Holy Sect, that means...'_

"These are the candidates," he breathed. He felt confused eyes rest on him, "these are the candidates for the Dove."

Sakura gasped and stared at Ino, unwilling to believe that her best friend and rival was a candidate. Shikamaru clenched his teeth; more cloaked figures had appeared.

Ino suddenly dropped into a dance.

It was simple. She spun in a circle and stretched out her right arm, as if she expected one of the cloaked figures to dance with her. As the one closest to her took her hand – the one that had appeared first – the other girls also began dancing. There was a faceless man in a white trench coat randomly dancing with some of the girls, before he passed them on to someone else.

_'Where did... how is... not possible...'_

Shikamaru was drawn to Ino. She had never looked so beautiful before. The cloaked figure left her side just as she began to lean back, and in his place appeared the faceless man.

They were a perfect match.

They were doing a dance that was in between ballet and a waltz; they were close but their movements were flowing and smooth. Ino's eyes were closed like she was asleep, as were the eyes of the other girls. Shikamaru was very confused.

The faceless man revealed his face and Shikamaru lunged, _'that bastard -!'_

Shikamaru felt a fist plunge into his stomach and he was flung backwards. One of the cloaked figures stood over him and snarled quietly, "do you have a death wish or something? Don't you feel the odd chakra? You're putting the animals on edge."

Shikamaru glanced to his left and jumped; when had the macaw flown from its perch?

After staring at him intently for a few moments, the bird and the man returned to their previous positions.

_'Doesn't she realize? Doesn't Ino realize it's _him_?'_

Of course she wouldn't, Shikamaru decided. Her eyes were closed after all, and she was leaning against him now like he was the only support she had. Her eyes opened half-way and the Konoha shinobi tensed, expecting her to attack.

Instead she smiled up at Hidan, and rested a hand on his cheek. He smiled at her as well, a small, Sai-like smile.

Then everything was gone: the clearing, the people, the girls, the animals, even Snow was gone. Only Ino remained.

"What the -?" Sasuke and Hinata were looking around frantically, wondering where in the world everyone had gone. Ino was sitting on the ground, plucking at the grass listlessly.

"Ino?" Sakura ventured. The blonde turned her head and smiled at them, "hi."

Shikamaru froze. How was it possible that Ino acted as if nothing had happened? Shikamaru interrogated her, "where is everyone?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked, looking around herself, "you guys are there, so..."

"You know what I mean."

She scowled at him, "I don't actually," Ino stood and crossed her arms, "can't a girl go for a walk without being followed by nearly all of her friends?"

Shikamaru blinked. Where was Snow?

_'What the hell?'_

"Where's the necklace?"

"Necklace? What necklace? I didn't put on a necklace today."

"I saw one around your neck when you left the village!"

Ino tugged down her shirt to reveal the upper part of her chest, making Shikamaru and several of the other boys blush, "look! There's nothing there! I didn't put on a necklace today!"

She strode angrily forward, brushing past Shikamaru, "I'm going home. I can't believe you all followed me."

Shikamaru continued to stare at a tree across from him, "I don't understand. Where did all the girls... the animals... those men... Hidan... where did they all go? I'm sure I saw them – we saw them I'm sure of it... that dog -!"

Shikamaru spun around and felt as though his eyes would fly out of their sockets.

Snow was walking next to Ino like he had been there the entire time.

* * *

From Shika's POV 'cause I thought that would be interesting. I'll try to update all my other stories today, including HSD and maybe adding a new one.


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